JYP laughs and YG cries, the 3rd quarter of Big 4 entertainment agencies is a mix of joy and sorrow
All Big 4 entertainment agencies have released their report for this year’s 3rd quarter.
JYP Entertainment, which had the highest performance ever, and SM Entertainment, which exceeded the consensus, are full of joy while YG Entertainment and HYBE are facing falling target stock prices due to their high dependence on BLACKPINK and BTS, respectively.
JYP Entertainment recorded 95.1 billion won in sales and 27.5 billion won in operating profit in the third quarter. This is an increase of 66.1% and 50.9%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.
JYP’s operating profit reached an all-time quarterly high. Stray Kids, as well as its solid girl group lineup including TWICE, ITZY, and NMIXX are the main driving forces of its good performance.
In particular, its music sector recorded 36.9 billion won, up 98% from the previous quarter. On top of that, as artists’ offline activities have resumed, concert and MD sales also increased significantly.
SM Entertainment also received a satisfactory result regarding its activities in the 3rd quarter this year.
SM Entertainment’s sales rose 65.4% year-on-year to 238.1 billion won, and its operating profit also soared 201.4% year-on-year to 29.8 billion won.
Operating profit significantly exceeded market expectations, with album sales increasing by 15%. NCT and aespa also became “million sellers”, and sales increased significantly as domestic and international concerts resumed.
In addition, as the contract with Like Planning is terminated, operating profit is expected to increase further, with SM Entertainment’s target price showing an upward trend.
On the other hand, target stock prices for YG Entertainment and HYBE are on the decline.
YG Entertainment’s third-quarter sales and operating profit recorded 114.6 billion won and 15.5 billion won, respectively. This is a respective 33% increase and 10% decrease year-on-year. Sales and operating profit fell short of market expectations by 5% and 22%, respectively.
High dependence on BLACKPINK is pointed out as a weakness of YG Entertainment. Moreover, as BLACKPINK and BIGBANG are reaching the end of their current contracts in 2023, everything is still uncertain.
The growth of YG’s newer groups is also slow, with TREASURE even showing a negative growth trend. The initial release of TREASURE’s new album, which was released in October, was only 400,000 copies, lower than 540,000 copies of the previous album.
HYBE’s third-quarter sales were 445.5 billion won, up 30.6% from the same period last year, and operating profit was 60.6 billion won, down 7.6% from the same period last year.
While HYBE is exceeding market expectations, the absence of BTS’ full group activities due to the member’s enlistment plans is holding back this agency. Due to the outstanding influence of BTS on HYBE’s revenue, concerns continue that the members’ enlistment may dampen HYBE’s growth.
Source: Sports Today
