HYBE Q3 2026 Earnings: Record 1.53 Trillion Won Revenue

HYBE booked 1.53 trillion won in revenue for July through September, up 109.8 percent from a year earlier, and turned a 42.2 billion won operating loss into a 188.5 billion won profit. Both figures are the highest the company has reported in a single quarter, according to its preliminary filing on Tuesday.

The previous records, 1.45 trillion won in revenue and 170.9 billion won in operating profit, were set in the second quarter, when BTS opened its "Arirang" world tour. HYBE said one quarter was enough to pass both. Operating profit also came in 13.6 percent above the 166 billion won consensus compiled by Yonhap Infomax, and net profit returned to the black at 11.3 billion won.

Concerts did most of the work. Concert sales reached 726.8 billion won, compared with 647.7 billion won in the second quarter, according to Music Business Worldwide's report on those results. HYBE said BTS drew up to 70,000 fans per show across Europe and the United States. Tours by Enhypen, Le Sserafim, NewJeans, Boynextdoor, TWS, Illit, Katseye and Cortis added to the total.

Merchandise and licensing brought in 334.6 billion won, and album and streaming sales 282.8 billion won. Revenue for the first nine months of the year stands at 3.674 trillion won, which leaves HYBE roughly 326 billion won short of 4 trillion won for the full year. No K-pop agency has reported annual revenue above that line.

The year did not start this way. In the first quarter HYBE posted revenue of 698.3 billion won and an operating loss of 196.6 billion won, which the company described as a one-off expense with no outflow of assets. Operating profit has gone from that loss to 170.9 billion won and then 188.5 billion won in consecutive quarters. HYBE credited its "multi-home, multi-genre" strategy, which spreads revenue across several labels and genres instead of one act.

BTS remains the largest piece. The group wrapped the South American leg of the tour last week with 853,000 attendees across 14 sold-out shows in five cities, and HYBE said the tour will continue through the first half of next year. CEO Lee Jae-sang said on the earnings call that the company is in talks with the members about what follows the tour, and that additional tour dates will be announced. HYBE is also preparing group and solo projects for the period after the tour, along with new music.

HYBE has not said how many dates it will add or where. The Asia leg, 15 shows in five cities, opens Nov. 19 in Kaohsiung.