HYBE Hits Record Quarterly Revenue Driven by World Tours, Cumulative Sales Near 2 Trillion KRW

HYBE has achieved its highest-ever quarterly revenue, propelled by the resounding success of its global world tours, bringing its cumulative sales close to 2 trillion KRW by the third quarter.

The company announced its third-quarter consolidated revenue reached 727.2 billion KRW, surpassing the previous record of 726.4 billion KRW set in the fourth quarter of 2024. This achievement follows HYBE's pattern of setting new quarterly revenue records in the first and second quarters of the year, underscoring a consistent upward growth trajectory.

Fueled by this momentum, HYBE's cumulative revenue for the first three quarters of the year has amounted to approximately 1.93 trillion KRW, indicating it is on the cusp of surpassing the 2 trillion KRW mark.

Direct engagement sales accounted for 477.4 billion KRW, representing about 66% of the total revenue. Notably, concert revenue saw a more than threefold increase year-over-year, reaching 245 billion KRW, driven by the highly successful global solo tour of Jin of BTS and the world tours of TOMORROW X TOGETHER and ENHYPEN, which were warmly embraced by fans worldwide. Conversely, album and sound source sales decreased to 189.8 billion KRW compared to the previous year, attributed to a relatively smaller number of artist comebacks during the period.

Indirect engagement sales, including merchandise, licensing, content, and fan club revenue, generated 249.8 billion KRW, a 22% increase from the previous year. Within this category, merchandise and licensing sales experienced a significant surge of 70%, reaching 168.3 billion KRW, bolstered by sales of tour merchandise, light sticks, and IP-based character products aligned with artist tour activities.

HYBE's core growth strategy of 'multi-home and multi-genre' is demonstrably yielding concrete results in the global market. The global girl group KATS EYE achieved its highest-ever ranking on the Billboard 'Hot 100' chart with 'Gabriela' at number 37, while 'Gnarly' re-entered the chart, marking its 11th cumulative week. KATS EYE is making history as a nominee for 'Best New Artist' and 'Best Pop Duo/Group Performance' at the 68th Grammy Awards. With over 33 million monthly listeners on Spotify, they hold the top position among K-pop-based artists. Following this success, KATS EYE is set to embark on their first global tour, encompassing 13 cities and 16 shows across North America, with all dates already sold out.

The global superfan platform Weverse also turned profitable on a cumulative basis by the third quarter, driven by the successful introduction of new business models such as digital memberships and advertising. Weverse plans to expand its reach by launching the private messaging service 'Weverse DM' on China's largest music streaming platform, 'QQ Music,' on the 18th.

HYBE recorded an operating loss of 42.2 billion KRW (operating profit margin of 5.8%) in the third quarter. This was due to proactive investments in expanding global artist IP and one-off expenses related to restructuring its North American business operations, which collectively resulted in approximately a 12%p decrease in operating profit margin. Initial investments for new artist debuts, including the K-pop boy group CORTIS in Korea, the Latin American boy group SANTOS BRAVOS, and the Latin band MUSZA under HYBE Latin America's label S1ENTO Records, contributed to the decline in operating profit margin.

Lee Kyoung-jun, HYBE's CFO, explained, "While short-term profitability has decreased due to multiple team debuts, our growth structure will be strengthened through mid-to-long-term global fandom expansion and stabilization of our revenue base." He anticipates that profitability will significantly improve starting next year, driven by the return of BTS, the growth of key artists, and the sustained profitability of Weverse.

Korean netizens reacted enthusiastically, with comments like: "This is incredible! It's rewarding to see TXT and ENHYPEN's world tours succeed so well!", "So proud KATS EYE is nominated for the Grammys! I'll definitely try to go to their next tour!", and "Congratulations on Weverse turning profitable! I'm cheering for its future development!"