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HYBE’s Q1 2026 earnings name on Wednesday (April 29) was dominated by the return of BTS. The corporate’s flagship group’s fifth studio album Arirang drove HYBE to file Q1 income of KRW 698.3 billion ($477m), up 39.5% YoY.
CEO Jason Jaesang Lee mentioned the comeback had gone “past the so-called BTS-nomics enhancing the nationwide model of Korea,” and framed BTS as a “legendary model” that will lead the worldwide live performance market “for a really very long time.”
Past BTS, the earnings name touched on KATSEYE’s efficiency within the US, HYBE’s strategy to abroad funding, and the expansion of its Weverse platform.
Right here’s what stood out…
Picture credit score: BigHit Music by way of WeVerse
1. HYBE sees BTS as a ‘legendary model’ that may lead the worldwide live performance market ‘for a really very long time’
HYBE’s CEO used the earnings name to border BTS not simply as a returning act, however as a long-term fixture of the worldwide dwell music market.
Lee cited knowledge from live performance trade analytics agency Pollstar, noting that ” two thirds of the artists who’ve taken up the Prime 20 spots within the world live performance market over the previous 5 years are legendary musicians like Think about Dragons and Weapons N’ Roses who debuted greater than 20 years in the past.”
“Based mostly on one of these knowledge, we’re satisfied that the success of BTS shouldn’t be a short-term phenomenon, however the group will keep their standing as a legendary model that may lead the worldwide marketplace for a really very long time,” Lee mentioned.
“We’re satisfied that the success of BTS shouldn’t be a short-term phenomenon.”
Jason Jaesang Lee, HYBE
Based on HYBE’s CEO, the Arirang album offered 3.98 million copies on its first day. The title monitor landed at No.1 on the Billboard Sizzling 100 – BTS’s seventh Sizzling 100 No.1 – with the entire album’s songs getting into the chart concurrently.
“It’s virtually unprecedented as a non-English-speaking group in Billboard historical past that each one the songs in a single album entered Sizzling 100 chart concurrently,” Lee mentioned.
Lee additionally highlighted the album’s vinyl gross sales: 208,000 copies within the first week, which he described as “the very best weekly vinyl gross sales file for a gaggle since 1991, when Luminate started compiling the info.”
The Gwanghwamun comeback live performance, livestreamed on Netflix, recorded viewership of 18.4 million over 24 hours worldwide, based on HYBE. The video subsequently entered the Netflix weekly high 10 chart in 80 nations.
The BTS World Tour Arirang kicked off on April 9 and is “the most important scale world tour in Okay-pop historical past,” based on Lee, with 85 reveals scheduled throughout 34 cities. The tour makes use of a 360-degree open-type stage design to get rid of blind spots and accommodate extra followers.
2. HYBE’s 360-degree stage design is a part of its technique to defend margins as artist prices rise
A Goldman Sachs analyst famous “considerations that there will likely be a rise in artist charges [as BTS’s revenue contribution grows]”.
CEO Lee acknowledged the difficulty head-on: “Because the essence of our enterprise is music administration and artist administration, there appear to be considerations that the shifting of profit-sharing ratio between the corporate and the artists could have a direct influence on the gross revenue margin. It does have an effect on our margin.”
Nonetheless, Lee argued that HYBE has been actively working to mitigate that danger.
“If we handle our firm in a method that the shifting of revenue sharing ratio could have a direct and vital influence on our gross revenue margin, it is going to imply that the corporate shouldn’t be doing job by way of defending its enterprise from these kind of dangers,” he mentioned.
Lee pointed to the 360-degree stage setup used on the BTS tour as a concrete instance.
Credit score: Large Hit MusicBTS kicked off their ‘BTS WORLD TOUR ‘ARIRANG’ IN NORTH AMERICA’ at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa final month
“The truth that we have now the middle stage implies that we have now eradicated blind spots, permitting [us] to accommodate extra followers. In different phrases, whereas we have now principally the identical value components and the identical particular results for these kind of concert events, we’re ready so as to add 4,000 or 5,000 extra seats,” he mentioned.
He additionally pointed to the share of income that comes from actions that don’t straight contain artists, merchandise, licensing, content material and fan platform gross sales, which accounted for 42% of complete income in Q1, based on CFO Lee.
“We proceed to place efforts to decrease fundamental value models in addition to enhancing effectivity in sourcing. So all of those efforts are mixed collectively to enhance our gross revenue pattern,” the CEO mentioned. “So we don’t count on this pattern to deteriorate any additional sooner or later and we are going to solely have the ability to enhance.”
3. HYBE says KATSEYE is outselling high US artists on album gross sales – and altering the dynamics of the American market
KATSEYE, the lady group shaped by way of HYBE’s three way partnership with Common Music Group‘s Geffen Information, got here up repeatedly on the decision as proof that HYBE’s localization technique within the US is working.
Lee advised analysts that KATSEYE has surpassed 32 million month-to-month listeners on Spotify, “which has exceeded what different main Okay-pop teams have achieved to date.”
He famous that the group’s single PINKY UP, launched in April, “reached 40 million streams in simply 2 weeks” and that the group’s Coachella efficiency “garnered greater than 6.3 million views after being uploaded on the official Coachella channel, exceeding that of Sabrina Carpenter, the headliner of this pageant.”
But it surely was HYBE’s claims about album gross sales that had been most pointed. Lee mentioned the “mixed cumulative gross sales of their first and second albums are practically 1 million copies,” and, citing the preorder pattern for the third EP due in August, predicted, “this new album will promote greater than the earlier two albums mixed.”
He then drew a comparability: “Contemplating that common album gross sales by artists which have topped the Billboard 200 chart this 12 months are round 190,000 copies, the unique album gross sales of KATSEYE far exceed these of main native artists reminiscent of Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo.”
“These unprecedented outcomes show that HYBE’s localization technique is now on a secure monitor, altering the dynamics of the US music market,” Lee concluded. “The album launch and the world tour of KATSEYE scheduled for the second half of the 12 months will drive an explosive progress in income within the US and additional enhance the underside line of our North American enterprise.”
KATSEYE additionally obtained three nominations on the 2026 American Music Awards. HYBE is now making ready a second lady group by way of its HYBE-Geffen partnership, with three confirmed members – Emily, Samara and Lexie – and a remaining member to be selected Could 12 by way of the audition present World Scout: The Last Piece, at the moment airing on Abema in Japan.
“We count on that this new group will grow to be a key asset of our multi-home multi-genre technique following the footsteps of KATSEYE to safe fandom from each North America and Japan,” Lee mentioned.
Credit score: Poetra.RH / Shutterstock.com
4. HYBE’s abroad funding will likely be smaller in 2026 than 2025 – however market shifts might change that
HYBE’s worldwide growth has weighed on its backside line lately. In FY 2025, the corporate posted file revenues of $1.86 billion however noticed working revenue plunge 73% YoY because it spent on world growth and new artist launches.
An analyst from HSBC requested for steerage on HYBE’s funding plans for 2026 and 2027, noting considerations that the corporate may improve abroad spending on the again of BTS’s earnings contribution.
CFO Lee mentioned the overall funding for 2026 “will likely be comparable [to] final 12 months” – and provided two explanation why.
“Initially, after we enter a brand new market and begin our enterprise, naturally, it is going to incur a bigger quantity of funding. However in doing so, we study our classes, and we accumulate our know-how, thereby having the ability to be more cost effective in debuting the second and the third groups in that respective area,” he mentioned.
“Market conditions could shift actually shortly. So if we see that there’s a proper timing, then we should execute our plans accordingly.”
Jason Jaesang Lee, HYBE
“Secondly, we already are producing significant leads to the respective areas that we have now entered. As an illustration, KATSEYE’s efficiency and outcomes are far exceeding what we initially anticipated.”
CEO Lee, nonetheless, added a caveat. Whereas the present plan requires decrease spending than 2025, he mentioned HYBE maintains “an inventory of choices and alternatives that we have now been [eyeing] for various areas and totally different genres to attend for the correct second.”
He gave the instance of HYBE’s growth into India, which “took three years for us to ponder upon and search for – watch for the correct second.”
“For the US and in addition for Japan, there are specific genres and sure forms of enterprise that we’re proper now, however we’re not able to execute on them proper now as a result of we don’t see that the markets are prepared [yet],” Lee mentioned.
“Nonetheless, as , market conditions could shift actually shortly. So if we see that there’s a proper timing, then we should execute our plans accordingly.”
5. Weverse hit a file 13.37 million MAU in Q1 – and HYBE says it’s attracting new customers, not simply returning ones
Common month-to-month lively customers (MAU) hit 13.37 million, up 20% QoQ from 11.2 million in This autumn 2025. (see under).
When requested by an HSBC analyst whether or not the upward MAU pattern would proceed, CEO Lee gave an in depth response.
“Based on our monitoring knowledge, we have now an growing proportion of latest customers becoming a member of the Weverse platform. Because of this the present artists will proceed to draw new followers and these new followers come to the Weverse platform to get pleasure from HYBE artists,” he mentioned.
Lee additionally highlighted HYBE’s technique of recruiting artists from exterior the Okay-pop ecosystem. “For selective and strategic causes, we have now included BINI and SB19 from Southeast Asia. As an illustration, BINI has been actually doing nicely and carried out at Coachella and the followers of BINI proceed to make use of Weverse companies in varied methods.”
On the query of why some Weverse companies – such because the DM (direct message) perform – are utilized by some artists and never others, Lee mentioned this was by design moderately than by default.
“DM is a superb service mannequin. It permits followers to straight talk with their artists. Nonetheless, this can’t be utilized to all artists in the identical method as a result of relying on the artists, relying on the labels and the group colours, their most popular methods of speaking with their followers could also be very totally different,” he mentioned.
“We have to cater to the traits of followers and artists and launch or apply companies in the correct method, in the correct time by speaking with the labels and administration.”
The Weverse Con Competition, scheduled for June, has confirmed a lineup of 30 artist groups, the most important within the occasion’s historical past. The lineup will span generations and genres and have each HYBE artists and exterior acts.Music Enterprise Worldwide
