[Click eStock] "HYBE, BTS Full Group Comeback Imminent... Period of Absolute Weight Increase"

Hana Securities analyzed on the 4th that BTS's full-group comeback is imminent for HYBE, describing it as a period for absolute overweight.

Lee Ki-hoon, a researcher at Hana Securities, stated in the report that “With the decline in album sales and risks related to NewJeans both resolved, BTS's full-group comeback is about six months away,” adding, “Considering past cases where stock prices rose by 40% and 80% respectively after the military service completion of TVXQ and Big Bang, BTS's return is expected to be a strong catalyst for stock price growth.”

The researcher further explained, “Especially if BTS embarks on a world tour as a full group, the tour revenue targeting over 3 million attendees annually until 2026 is expected to reach approximately 700 billion KRW,” analyzing that “this scale could raise BTS's annual revenue to around 1.2 to 1.3 trillion KRW.”

He said, “If BTS re-enters the Billboard HOT 100 at number one after their comeback, HYBE's valuation could recover from the current price-earnings ratio (PER) of 23 times to a maximum of 30 to 35 times,” and added, “Moreover, from the second half of 2025, when the effects of the BTS tour and the debut of new groups are reflected, both sales and operating profit are expected to grow rapidly.”

HYBE plans to debut new male groups in Korea, Japan, and Latin America by 2025. Along with this, the introduction of membership for the fan community platform Weverse and the execution of a global fandom expansion strategy are expected to result in stable performance at the current level by 2026.

Regarding the announcement of contract termination with NewJeans, it was considered already reflected in the stock price. He stated, “HYBE conservatively excluded NewJeans-related performance and adjusted the 2026 sales and operating profit to approximately 3.4 trillion KRW and 427.4 billion KRW respectively, representing growth of 33% and 39% compared to the previous year,” and forecasted, “Although NewJeans' operating profit outlook has been revised downward to around 50 to 60 billion KRW due to the prolonged situation, HYBE is expected to maintain continuous growth excluding this.”