[Click eStock] "HYBE, 70 BTS Tour Dates Expected... Target Price Raised"

On October 31, Hana Securities maintained its "Buy" investment rating on HYBE and raised its target price to 400,000 won, stating, "BTS is expected to generate over 1.2 trillion won in revenue by holding around 70 tour dates following their album release in March next year."

On this day, Lee Kihun, a researcher at Hana Securities, commented, "If the current exchange rate holds, there is potential for an additional increase in the average ticket price (ASP)."

Lee further explained, "Ticket sales from BTS concerts alone are expected to exceed 800 billion won. Considering albums, digital music, merchandise (MD), and other secondary rights, total revenue could easily surpass 1.2 trillion won. Reflecting this, we have raised our forecast for next year's operating profit to 500.6 billion won, a 191% increase year-on-year." The target price-to-earnings ratio (PER) was also raised to 43 times.

There has also been positive progress in the legal dispute related to NewJeans. Lee noted, "In the first trial, the exclusive contract with ADOR was ruled valid. If this decision is finalized, we plan to reflect an upward revision of operating profit by around 30 billion won." "Although the debut of new rookie groups will continue to put pressure on costs through the end of the year, their strong performance has already been confirmed," he assessed.

Since June, several rookie groups have debuted globally, starting with the Japanese boy group Aoen, followed by the Latin band Musa, the boy group Santos Bravos, and Big Hit's Cortis. Cats Eye has climbed as high as No. 40 on the Billboard HOT100, demonstrating the steepest growth trajectory in history even compared to K-pop girl groups. With their tour (80,000 attendees) already underway, even faster monetization is expected.

Lee explained, "Cortis, despite being a rookie group, has released five music videos with full support, which appears to be part of preparations for a tour within one and a half to two years."

He added, "Their debut album has already sold over 600,000 copies, marking the strongest start among groups launched by HYBE in the past two to three years. As the top pick in the sector, we recommend 'continued overweight' with no need for hesitation until the BTS tour begins."