HYBE has once again broken its own record with the highest-ever sales for a second quarter!
On August 6, HYBE officially revealed that their Q2 consolidated sales reached 705.6 billion won (approx. $540 million), marking a 10.2% increase from the same period last year (640.5 billion won), which was already a record at the time.
Compared to the previous quarter, sales surged by 41%, showing strong growth. Operating profit hit 65.9 billion won, jumping 29% year-over-year and an impressive 205% quarter-over-quarter, with the profit margin also improving from 7.9% to 9.3%.
A big driver of this growth was HYBE's artist-direct business, which brought in 447.9 billion won. Among this, the concert sector alone raked in 188.7 billion won, a 31% jump from last year’s Q2, as about 1.8 million fans attended world tours and fan meetings from HYBE artists.
Some major contributors to the concert boom included BTS members Jin and J-Hope's solo tours, SEVENTEEN’s massive fan meeting in Japan, and world tours by TOMORROW X TOGETHER and LE SSERAFIM. With more tours coming in the second half of the year, HYBE expects the concert business to keep booming.
Meanwhile, album sales totaled 228.6 billion won, a slight 8.4% dip from last year, which HYBE explained was in line with the overall slowdown in the K-pop physical album market. Still, their artists achieved impressive results:
- BTS's Jin ranked No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with his 2nd mini-album Echo.
- SEVENTEEN led Korea’s first-half album sales with HAPPY BURSTDAY, celebrating their 10th anniversary.
- ENHYPEN became double million-sellers in the first week of DESIRE: UNLEASH, also hitting No. 3 on the Billboard 200.
- LE SSERAFIM reached No. 1 on Japan’s Oricon daily chart with DIFFERENT.
- BOYNEXTDOOR hit their highest first-week sales yet with No Genre.
- Rookie group ILLIT continued their streak with bomb, marking their third release to enter the Billboard 200.
HYBE artists also saw big wins on global streaming platforms. Jin’s Don’t Say You Love Me and J-Hope’s Killin’ It Girl both entered the Billboard Hot 100.
Global girl group KATSEYE also made it onto the Hot 100 with Gabriela and Gnarly, from their debut EP BEAUTIFUL CHAOS. These tracks also gained traction on the UK Official Chart and Spotify Global Chart, especially in Latin America and Europe.
HYBE’s U.S. partner Big Machine Label Group had their own success. Country artist Thomas Rhett earned the top RIAA Diamond certification, while Riley Green hit No. 1 on the U.S. country radio airplay chart with Worst Way.
On the business side, indirect artist-related sales like merchandise (MD), content, and fan club memberships added up to 257.8 billion won. Of that, MD and licensing alone brought in 152.9 billion won, a huge 40% increase from last year. Tour-related goods, light sticks, and character merch based on artist IP were major contributors. Fan club sales also hit a record high of 34.6 billion won, up 46%.
Weverse, HYBE’s global fan platform, continued to grow with 10.9 million monthly active users (MAUs). In June, when all BTS members were active on the platform, it reached an all-time high of 12 million MAUs.
New artists like Japan’s Mrs. GREEN APPLE and Katori Shingo also helped push numbers up. With all this activity, Weverse payments jumped 41% from the previous quarter.
With strong performance across concerts, streaming, and merchandise, HYBE is showing no signs of slowing down. Fans can expect even more exciting activities in the second half of the year!
Source: [1]
