[Click eStock] "JYP Entertainment to Surpass 100 Billion KRW Operating Profit in 2024"

Hana Financial Investment Report

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Hana Financial Investment maintained a buy rating on JYP Entertainment (JYP Ent.) on the 22nd, expecting the company to enter the era of 100 billion KRW operating profit in 2024, and raised the target price by 6% to 68,000 KRW.

In the fourth quarter of last year, JYP Entertainment recorded sales of 63.8 billion KRW and operating profit of 16.3 billion KRW, growing 53% and 55% respectively compared to the same period last year. The comeback of TWICE and Stray Kids, along with the resumption of offline activities in Japan, contributed to sales from NiziU as well. The quarter also saw the highest YouTube revenue and a settlement of 4 billion KRW from Republic Records contributing. Non-operating income included equity-method gains from DearU and fair value gains from Zepeto, amounting to 15.8 billion KRW and 14.6 billion KRW respectively. On the expense side, despite COVID-19, the company achieved record-high performance, reflecting additional bonuses of 5.9 billion KRW.

Stray Kids’ latest album pre-orders reached 1.3 million copies, a 40% increase compared to the previous release. Kihoon Lee, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, said, “Some are concerned that album sales might decline due to the visibility of concerts, but if the content is good, fandoms work even harder,” adding, “With the expansion of global fandoms, TWICE and Stray Kids have already announced tours with over 400,000 attendees through July, and as early as the second half of the year, the first dome tours of Stray Kids and NiziU are also expected.”

Recently, the rookie girl group NMIXX is also proving an unprecedented growth rate. A rookie cycle is planned for next year with one team debuting each in Korea, the United States, Japan, and China. Considering this growth pace, the company is expected to sustain record-high performance through 2024, entering the era of 100 billion KRW operating profit.

Researcher Kihoon Lee explained, “Tours with over one million attendees annually will become visible,” and added, “With expanded investment gains from DearU, Zepeto, and 4BY4, a virtuous cycle leading to increased shareholder dividends will continue.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.