[Click eStock] "HYBE, Diverse Artist Lineup"

Yuanta Securities on the 30th highlighted HYBE's strength in its diverse artist lineup, issuing a buy rating with a target price of 340,000 KRW.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

HYBE's consolidated sales for the first quarter of this year reached 410.6 billion KRW, a 44.1% increase compared to the same period last year, and operating profit rose 41.8% to 52.5 billion KRW, surpassing market consensus estimates.

Researcher Lee Hwan-wook of Yuanta Securities explained, "Despite the traditional off-season, under the multi-label system, the impact of minimizing gaps between new album releases led to album sales increasing by 185.1% year-on-year to 184.3 billion KRW, driving overall company growth." He added, "Album sales by major artists were 3.15 million copies for TXT (Tomorrow X Together), 2.03 million for Seventeen, 1.72 million for BTS (including 1.57 million for Jimin's solo album), and 1.69 million for NewJeans, totaling 9.11 million albums sold."

He continued, "Although there was a fixed cost burden due to the absence of BTS group activities, strategic cost efficiency measures successfully defended operating profit margin at last year's level." He also noted, "On April 21, the day SUGA's solo album was released, sales reached 1.07 million copies, and the world tour schedule was sold out."

In the third and fourth quarters, solo albums by BTS members V and Jungkook, who have the highest recognition, are scheduled for release, with combined solo album sales expected to reach 6.6 million copies this year. Seventeen's 10th mini album, released on April 24, achieved a record-breaking first-week sales of 4.55 million copies, and LE SSERAFIM's new album, released on May 1, had pre-orders totaling 1.38 million copies. Enhypen's new album and the debut of the new boy group Boy Next Door are also planned.

The combined album sales for the second quarter are expected to be the highest ever. In the second half of the year, active offline concerts will be held globally for Seventeen, Enhypen, LE SSERAFIM, and others.

Researcher Lee also stated, "Meanwhile, platform business investments for service advancement will continue through this year, with Weverse DM launching in May, Weverse by Fan in June, and subscription services and advertising models introduced sequentially in the third quarter." He added, "Full-scale monetization is expected to begin next year, and currently, the foundation for a content empire is being laid."

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