Entertainment
Music and Concerts
Korean entertainment company HYBE hits record high quarterly revenue
Korean entertainment company HYBE hits record high quarterly revenue
Korean entertainment company HYBE announced its 2025 third quarter financial results, marking its highest-ever quarterly revenue.
HYBE manages well-known K-pop artists including BTS, Seventeen, ENHYPEN, Tomorrow X Together, Le Sserafim and ILLIT.
The company reported that its third quarter revenue reached 727.2 billion won (about $500.4 million), marking a 37.8 percent year-over-year (YoY) increase.
This surpassed the previous quarterly record set in Q4 2024, bringing the cumulative revenue for the first three quarters of 2025 to 1.93 trillion (about $1.32 billion).
HYBE said performance was fueled by promotions with direct involvement of artists, totaling 477.4 billion won (about $328.5 million), accounting for 66 percent of overall sales.
In addition, concert revenue driven by exceptional world tours and fan events by artists, including Jin of BTS, Seventeen, Tomorrow X Together, and ENHYPEN, surged over three times YoY to 245 billion won (about $168.6 million).
Recorded music totaled 189.8 billion won (about $130.6 million), showing a YoY decrease due to a relatively lighter schedule of album releases.
Revenue from indirect involvement of artists—including official merchandise (MD), intellectual property (IP) licensing, content, and fan club memberships—totaled 249.8 billion won (about $171.9 million), translating to a 22 percent YoY increase.
MD and IP licensing saw significant growth, increasing 70 percent YoY to 168.3 billion won (about $115.8 million), primarily driven by tour MD, and IP-based products.
HYBE’s “multi-home, multi-genre” strategy produced strong global results in the third quarter.
It cited Katseye whose momentum surged as their single “Gabriela” reached No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100, earning them two nominations—Best New Artist and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance—for the 68th Grammy Awards, and a fully sold-out first North American tour.
HYBE is forming a girl group quartet under the same label in the US, currently in the process of finalizing its members through a global audition.
In parallel, artists under HYBE America continued to demonstrate significant influence.
QC Music’s BigXthaPlug saw his album “I Hope You’re Happy” chart at No. 2 on both the Billboard Top Rap Albums and Top Country Albums charts, while the single “All The Way” hit No. 4 on Billboard Hot 100, and No.1 on its Hot Rap Songs chart.
BMLG’s Riley Green sold out his UK and Ireland tour, and scored his first solo No. 1 on the UK Country Airplay Chart with “Change My Mind.”
HYBE Latin America significantly expanded its presence by launching new groups MUSZA and Santos Bravos from local audition programs.
Santos Bravos, who debuted in October with their single “0%,” accumulated over 100 million views on socials and 100,000 Weverse subscribers.
Their debut concert in Mexico City sold out in two hours, confirming that HYBE’s methodology translates into the local market. In addition, strategic signings bolstered the label’s influence, including the release of DY’s (formerly Daddy Yankee) music video of “El Toque,” which was filmed in Korea.
Global superfan platform Weverse achieved cumulative profitability through Q3, aided by new business models such as Digital Membership.
The platform plans to further expand its reach by opening its private messaging service, “Weverse DM,” on China’s QQ Music on Nov. 18.
Looking ahead, Weverse expects to see significant performance improvement, driven by BTS’ return as a group, expanded e-commerce revenue from the growth of key artists, and the growth of its own digital services.
HYBE reported an operating loss of KRW 42.2 billion (about $29 million) in the third quarter, which was driven by significant strategic investments in global IP expansion—including the company’s early investments leading to the successful debut of Cortis and two other teams from HYBE Latin America’s audition program, Pase a la Fama—and non-recurring expenses related to the restructuring of the North American business.
"While the debut of multiple teams has temporarily absorbed short-term profitability, HYBE’s growth structure will be strengthened in the mid-to-long term through global fandom expansion and revenue base stabilization." He added, “the transition of our North American business to a label-centric IP integrated structure is expected to stabilize the P&L next year, aligning with the effects of this restructuring,” said HYBE CFO Kyung Jun Lee.
HYBE CEO Jason Jaesang Lee said, “HYBE’s fundamentals remain robust, with our core K-pop sector projected to maintain profitability between 10 percent to 15 percent in 2025. We anticipate these profitability headwinds will largely clear by the fourth quarter, allowing for the full-scale improvement of our revenue structure starting in 2026.”
He added, “This recovery will be anchored by BTS’ return as a group, the accelerated growth of K-pop artists, further results from our 'multi-home, multi-genre’ strategy, and stable profitability from Weverse."