[Click eStock] "HYBE, Now at the Bottom... Strong Momentum for 'BTS Full Group' Next Year"

Top Pick in Entertainment Stocks Until Next Year... Hana Securities "Now Is the Bottom"
Still Strong BTS Global Fandom "K-pop Overall Spillover Effect"
Profitability Improvement Accelerates If Weverse Monetization Proceeds

Hana Securities stated on the 6th that it believes now is the 'bottom' for HYBE and named it the top preferred stock in the entertainment sector until 2025. They maintained a 'buy' investment rating and a target price of 300,000 KRW. HYBE's closing price on the previous trading day was 202,500 KRW.

Researchers Kihoon Lee and Hyunsoo Kim of Hana Securities said, "The full comeback of BTS in 2025 and the monetization of Weverse are expected to provide two major growth momentum factors for HYBE," adding, "In particular, BTS's comeback is likely to expand traffic not only for HYBE but across the entire K-pop industry." They also analyzed that with the debut of more than two new male groups scheduled for next year, HYBE expects to continuously expand its fan base through this.

According to Hana Securities, HYBE's third-quarter revenue was 527.8 billion KRW, down 2% year-on-year, and operating profit was 54.2 billion KRW, down 25%, which was in line with consensus estimates. Comeback momentum from ENHYPEN, Boy Next Door, and LE SSERAFIM was somewhat limited due to the Olympics. TXT's Japan dome tour attracted 520,000 fans. In the fourth quarter, with artist comebacks from SEVENTEEN, TXT, BTS Jin, and ENHYPEN, as well as SEVENTEEN's Japan dome tour, approximately 980,000 fans are expected to participate, with operating profit projected at 84.5 billion KRW.

Researchers Kihoon Lee and Hyunsoo Kim said, "Various factors such as declining album sales, BLACKPINK's activity hiatus, and issues related to ADOR exerted downward pressure on the stock price, but major issues appear to be entering a resolution phase," adding, "With BTS's return, album sales are expected to rebound, and as Weverse monetization progresses, performance improvement is anticipated." They evaluated that HYBE has sufficient potential to grow its market capitalization to 12 to 13 trillion KRW in the long term. Currently, the market cap is slightly above 8 trillion KRW.

BTS is scheduled for a full-group comeback in June 2025, and their global fandom remains strong. Recently, through members' solo activities, they have continuously achieved results on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The average ticket price for BTS SUGA's pre-enlistment tour was about 200,000 KRW, and if 2.5 million attendees participate annually, concert revenue alone is estimated to exceed 600 billion KRW.

Starting in December, Weverse plans to introduce paid service features through digital memberships, including ad-free video viewing and offline VOD storage. This is expected to provide fans with more diverse benefits and strengthen the revenue model.

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