Researcher predicts SM profits to grow strongly as aespa promotes in the US, NCT expands activities in Japan
aespa and NCT’s agency, SM Entertainment, promises to boost their artists’ presence in the global market.
Recently, a researcher at SK Securities commented that SM Entertainment has one of the most solid lineups of artists to expand global activities. Hyo Ji Nam said, “SM manages 11 artists, which is much higher than other companies.”
He continued, “The company is operating mainly in Japan. In the second quarter alone, SM recorded about 640,000 concert attendees and is expected to attract another 1 million in the second half of the year. NCT 127 had 5 concerts in Japan in the second quarter of 2022 and is a group capable of attracting 500,000 fans per tour if they can perform continuously.”
The fact that aespa started to carry out activities in the US is also evaluated as a positive sign, “aespa is about to release their 2nd mini-album in Korea and the US on July 8. The group has surpassed 1 million pre-order copies. The total sales of this album is expected to be 1.5 million copies.“
By signing with Warner Records, aespa will continue to promote globally, thereby expanding their worldwide fandom and going on large-scale tours. In addition, “SM is also planning to debut two new subunits under NCT, NCT Tokyo and NCT Hollywood next year.“
The researcher concluded, “If 3 more rookie groups join aespa and NCT 127 – NCT Dream, SM’s profits will continue to grow to 87.2 billion KRW (29%) within this year“.
