[Featured Stock] HYBE Falls 6% on Q1 Earnings Disappointment Forecast

HYBE is falling more than 6%. It is interpreted that the analysis by securities firms predicting weak first-quarter earnings influenced this decline.

As of 11:04 AM on the 9th, HYBE was trading at 215,000 KRW, down 15,500 KRW (6.72%) from the previous trading day.

Researcher Lee Hwan-wook of Yuanta Securities stated, "We estimate that HYBE achieved sales of 442.8 billion KRW and an operating profit of 21.4 billion KRW in the first quarter," adding, "This represents an increase of 22.7% and 48.9%, respectively, compared to the same period last year."

However, he added, "The previous estimates were sales of 480.7 billion KRW and an operating profit of 31.1 billion KRW," noting, "The decline in the proportion of album sales and the overall rise in fixed costs likely limited profitability improvements."

IBK Investment & Securities also forecast that HYBE's first-quarter sales would increase by 19.9% year-on-year to 432.9 billion KRW, and operating profit would rise by 49.5% to 21.5 billion KRW. However, they estimated that the operating profit would fall significantly short of market expectations of 53.1 billion KRW.

Researcher Kim Yoo-hyuk of IBK Investment & Securities explained, "The sales decline was affected by the album release gap, except for Bu Seoksoon (705,000 copies), Hoshi x Woozi (370,000 copies), and LE SSERAFIM (580,000 copies) in the first quarter," but added, "Since most artists who had a hiatus in the first quarter are expected to make a comeback in the second quarter, there is no significant change to the annual estimates."