[Click eStock] "HYBE's Profits Expected to More Than Double Over Next Two Years"

On April 30, Hana Securities projected that HYBE would enter a profit growth cycle with earnings more than doubling over the next two years, starting from BTS's full-group comeback in June. The target stock price was also raised from 310,000 won to 330,000 won.

HYBE's first-quarter revenue and operating profit were 500.6 billion won and 21.6 billion won, respectively, representing year-on-year growth of 39% and 50%. Hana Securities forecasts second-quarter revenue and operating profit at 716 billion won and 85.4 billion won, respectively, up 12% and 68% year-on-year. Operating profit is expected to approach an all-time quarterly high again. Album sales are projected at approximately 12 million units for the quarter, the second highest on record, driven by comebacks from six male groups and Cat's Eye. Concert attendance is expected to reach an all-time quarterly high, with roughly 1.1 million attendees, reflecting Jin and J-Hope's world tours as well as performances by Seventeen, TXT, Le Sserafim, and &Team.

Starting in the second quarter, HYBE will feature its entire lineup of male artists. Alongside BTS's full-group comeback in June, debut plans for new male groups in Japan, Korea, Latin America, and the United States are also taking shape. In Japan, Aoen, whose audition process recently concluded, will debut in June. In Korea, a five-member group will debut in the third quarter following TXT. In Latin America, a debut program will launch in June. In the United States, HYBE is expected to take a new approach, highlighted by Cat's Eye's successful debut and collaborations such as with Alan's Universe, which has 90 million YouTube subscribers.

Analyst Lee Kihun commented, "There were periods of sharp valuation increases around the time of TVXQ and Big Bang's military discharges, and this time will be no different." He also noted, "Expectations are rising for an easing of China's Hallyu ban." Recently, it was reported that Korean artists have begun performing on stage in China for the first time in eight years since 2017.