"2 Trillion Disappeared in the Blink of an Eye" Ant Investors Complain... Big Hit Drops After First-Day Surge

Market Cap Over Three Times Combined Total of Top 3 Agencies by Closing Price
Trading Started with 'Ttasant' on the Morning of the 15th
Closed at 258,000 KRW, Down 4.44% from Opening Price

On the 15th, in the KOSPI market, Big Hit Entertainment closed trading at 258,000 won, down 4.44% from the opening price of 270,000 won. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] The stock price of Big Hit Entertainment, which started trading with the so-called 'Ttah-sang'?opening price set at twice the public offering price and soaring to the upper limit?fell below the opening price just over four hours after trading began.

Big Hit, the agency of the group BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan) that entered the KOSPI, closed the session on the 15th at a price below the opening price.

On that day, Big Hit closed at 258,000 won, down 4.44% from the opening price of 270,000 won in the KOSPI market.

Earlier, Big Hit, which raised 58 trillion won in subscription deposits during its IPO, saw its opening price set at twice the public offering price at market open, then surged to the upper limit price of 351,000 won, successfully achieving 'Ttah-sang'.

However, the upper limit was soon lifted, and the price increase sharply diminished, with the stock price declining from 1 p.m., four hours after the market opened.

The group BTS delivered a video message expressing their gratitude after winning the 'Top Social Artist' award at the '2020 Billboard Music Awards' held on the 14th (local time) at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles (LA), USA. / Photo by Yonhap News

Despite favorable factors such as BTS winning the Top Social Artist award for the fourth consecutive year at the '2020 Billboard Music Awards' and their new album 'Dynamite,' released on August 21, reaching No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart?the first Korean artist to do so?Big Hit did not continue the 'Ttah-sang' streak following SK Biopharm and Kakao Games.

Previously, SK Biopharm recorded the upper limit price for three consecutive days after listing, and Kakao Games hit the upper limit for two consecutive days.

Some investors expressed disappointment on internet communities and social networking services (SNS).

One investor said, "I don't know how long the adjustment will continue," adding, "I bought with expectations, but it seems the stock price was inflated."

Another investor lamented, "The market capitalization seemed to be 10 trillion won at the start, but 2 trillion won disappeared in the blink of an eye," and added, "Stocks seem harder than real estate. I think I will have a hard time emotionally for a while."

There were also criticisms that Big Hit Entertainment's revenue structure, heavily dependent on BTS, could be a vulnerability.

One netizen pointed out, "It is still a small company relying on a few popular groups," and questioned, "Wasn't the problem setting an excessively high public offering price due to overly high initial expectations?"

However, Big Hit's stock price still remains nearly twice the public offering price (135,000 won), trading above 250,000 won. Based on the closing price, Big Hit's market capitalization reached 8.7323 trillion won, ranking 32nd on the KOSPI.

This figure is more than three times the combined market capitalization of the three major entertainment agencies?JYP Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and SM?totaling 2.7812 trillion won.