KOSDAQMedia & Entertainment122870

YG Entertainment

₩40,600▼ 1.58%2026-10-02 close

Market Cap

₩759.8B

Turnover

₩3.4B

Volume

80K

Shares out.

18.7M

PER

23.0×

PBR

1.5×

EPS

₩1,827

Dividend Yield

0.72%

PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are calculated in-house from the last 4 quarters (2025Q3–2026Q2) · Dividend yield is based on ₩300 per share · Prices as of the 2026-10-02 close

Report overview

Younger IP Growth and BIGBANG Tour Open H2 2026

With revenue and operating profit declining sequentially since the BLACKPINK tour wound down, younger IPs such as BABYMONSTER and TREASURE, the BIGBANG world tour that began in August, and a new boy group debuting in September are the key variables for second-half performance.

1
2025 consolidated revenue reached KRW 545.4 billion with operating profit of KRW 71.3 billion, turning positive from a 2024 operating loss.
2
Over the trailing four quarters (Q3 2025-Q2 2026), revenue and operating profit peaked in Q3 2025 and have declined each subsequent quarter.
3
In Q2 2026, revenue and operating profit grew by double digits year-on-year, but owners' net income fell 32.8%, reflecting sizable non-operating swings.
4
BIGBANG's world tour (19 cities, 33 shows) began in August, and a new five-member boy group is scheduled to debut in September as major H2 catalysts.
5
Brokerage target prices have come down from their 2025 highs, and analyst estimates have been in flux with mixed revisions through May-August 2026.

Business structure

YG Entertainment is a comprehensive entertainment company generating revenue from album and music sales, concerts, merchandise, and advertising and licensing based on its own artist IP including BLACKPINK, BIGBANG, BABYMONSTER, TREASURE, and WINNER.

BIGBANG, marking its 20th debut anniversary, began a 19-city, 33-show world tour in August, while BABYMONSTER is on its second world tour covering Latin America, Oceania, and Europe after kicking off in Seoul in June, and TREASURE continues additional activities.

Chief producer Yang Hyun-suk officially announced that a new five-member boy group will debut in September 2026, the label's first new boy group since TREASURE in 2020.

Alongside this, the company has signaled it will progressively unveil new IP, including a next-generation girl group tentatively called 'Next Monster.' Earlier, in September 2024 the company announced BLACKPINK's full-group comeback and world tour plans, which culminated in the stadium-scale 'Deadline' tour starting at Goyang Stadium in July 2025.

Revenue is composed of albums and music, concerts, merchandise, advertising and licensing, and content distribution, with an expanded merchandise strategy for younger-tenure artists cited as one driver of recent earnings improvement.

Competitively, the company is grouped with Hybe, SM, and JYP as one of Korea's four major agencies, and has at times been cited by brokerages as a second preference behind Hybe.

Reliance on a small number of mega IPs, namely BLACKPINK and BIGBANG, remains high, making the successful establishment of new groups a key variable for medium-term portfolio diversification.

Earnings trend

Quarterly revenue · Operating profit

₩100.4B₩8.4B25Q2₩173.1B₩31.1B25Q3₩171.8B₩22.3B25Q4₩147.1B₩19.4B26Q1₩127.8B₩11B26Q2

RevenueOperating profit

Annual revenue · Operating profit

₩391.2B₩46.6B2022₩569.2B₩86.9B2023₩364.9B-₩20.6B2024₩545.4B₩71.3B2025

RevenueOperating profit

Quarterly results · Last 5 quarters
Quarter	Revenue	Operating profit	Op. margin
2025Q2	₩100.4B	₩8.4B	8.3%
2025Q3	₩173.1B	₩31.1B	18.0%
2025Q4	₩171.8B	₩22.3B	13.0%
2026Q1	₩147.1B	₩19.4B	13.2%
2026Q2	₩127.8B	₩11B	8.6%

Annual results
Year	Revenue	Operating profit	Net income (parent)	Op. margin	ROE	Debt-to-equity
2022	₩391.2B	₩46.6B	₩33.7B	11.9%	8.2%	35.5%
2023	₩569.2B	₩86.9B	₩61.3B	15.3%	13.1%	26.8%
2024	₩364.9B	-₩20.6B	₩18.5B	−5.6%	3.8%	21.7%
2025	₩545.4B	₩71.3B	₩36.9B	13.1%	7.2%	28.9%

Consolidated basis (financial statements including subsidiaries) · Final figures from DART filings · Net income attributable to owners of the parent · Data as of 2026-09-04

Earnings analysis

Consolidated revenue in 2025 reached KRW 545.4 billion, up sharply from KRW 364.9 billion in 2024, and operating profit turned positive at KRW 71.3 billion versus an operating loss of KRW 20.6 billion in 2024.

Owners' net income also expanded from KRW 18.5 billion in 2024 to KRW 36.9 billion in 2025, with the operating margin improving from -5.6% to 13.1%.

In 2023, revenue was KRW 569.2 billion with operating profit of KRW 86.9 billion and a 15.3% operating margin, the highest margin of the past four years, whereas the 2024 loss is attributed largely to a gap in concert activity.

Looking at the trailing four quarters, revenue and operating profit peaked in Q3 2025 at KRW 173.1 billion and KRW 31.1 billion (roughly an 18% margin), then declined sequentially to KRW 171.8 billion and KRW 22.3 billion in Q4 2025, KRW 147.1 billion and KRW 19.4 billion in Q1 2026, and KRW 127.8 billion and KRW 11.0 billion (8.6% margin) in Q2 2026.

This pattern reflects BLACKPINK's stadium-scale world tour being concentrated in the second half of 2025, which lifted both revenue and margins before naturally becoming a higher base as the tour wound down.

In Q2 2026, revenue and operating profit grew 27.2% and 31.2% year-on-year respectively, yet owners' net income fell 32.8% to KRW 5.4 billion; Hana Securities' earlier Q1 review noted that valuation losses on financial assets tied to share price movements of a held equity stake weighed on net income growth as a non-operating factor.

During this period the company attributed the improvement to merchandise sales linked to new BABYMONSTER and TREASURE releases and rising digital content demand, a result that beat prior estimates from several brokerages including Dawoo Investment & Securities, which had projected revenue of KRW 109.4 billion and operating profit of KRW 8.1 billion.

The recurring pattern of operating profit growth alongside net income moderation shows that non-operating volatility remains a persistent variable in the company's earnings.

Industry analysis

The K-pop industry has evolved beyond album sales into a revenue structure spanning world tours, merchandise, fan platforms, and licensing, with concerts regarded as a particularly high-margin business.

Among the four major Korean agencies (Hybe, SM, JYP, YG), each company's earnings cycle is closely tied to the comeback and world tour schedules of its mega IPs and the pace of developing new artists.

In a 2026 sector report, Samsung Securities named Hybe its top pick and YG Entertainment its second preference, maintaining an overweight view on the sector.

YG Entertainment's strength lies in owning stadium-scale mega IPs in BLACKPINK and BIGBANG, though it has also been noted as having relied on a relatively small number of large IPs.

Growing concert attendance and merchandise sales from younger-tenure IPs such as BABYMONSTER and TREASURE are viewed as a sign of portfolio diversification, and KB Securities has projected that as depreciation burdens tied to senior-tenure IPs wind down, operating leverage from younger IPs will become more pronounced.

Across the industry, the trend of venues scaling up from halls to arenas to domes to stadiums is seen as a signal of expanding global fandom. Whether new groups successfully establish themselves is considered a key variable in reducing individual companies' earnings volatility within the sector.

Outlook

The company has stated it plans to sustain growth through younger and new IP in the second half, with the BIGBANG world tour that began in August, BABYMONSTER's second world tour, and TREASURE's additional activities expected to feed into third- and fourth-quarter results.

In September, a new five-member boy group will debut, the label's first new boy group since TREASURE in 2020, a move seen as an effort to reduce reliance on a small number of mega IPs.

The company has also indicated that additional new lineups, including a next-generation girl group tentatively named 'Next Monster,' will be unveiled progressively.

KB Securities projected that as the depreciation burden tied to senior-tenure IPs winds down, operating leverage from younger IPs would become more evident from the second half onward.

However, given that concerts and album releases tend to be concentrated in specific quarters, step-wise fluctuations in earnings are likely to continue.

Following a Q2 2026 result that beat several brokerages' prior estimates, market attention has turned to whether a second-half valuation reassessment and target price upgrades will follow.

The early reception of the new boy group and the box-office performance of BIGBANG's remaining tour dates remain key variables for future earnings estimates.

Valuation

PER

23.0×

PBR

1.5×

ROE

6.7%

EPS

₩1,827

BPS

₩28,065

Dividend per share

₩300

Since earnings turned from a 2024 loss to a 2025 profit, revenue and operating profit have entered a phase of gradual quarterly moderation, and the market's valuation expectations have adjusted in tandem.

Brokerage target prices, having been set at higher levels in the first half of 2025, were revised downward multiple times through 2026, only for renewed talk of potential upward revisions to emerge after Q2 2026 results beat market forecasts, producing a back-and-forth pattern.

The price-to-book ratio trades in a range that maintains a certain premium over net asset value, which, as with other major agencies in the sector, can be read as partly reflecting market expectations around the value of IP assets.

Dividends are paid annually, but the yield tends to run on the lower side given the sector's growth-oriented character. How the market approaches valuation going forward may hinge on the degree to which new IP successfully establishes itself and concert and merchandise revenue prove stable.

PER, EPS, PBR and BPS are all calculated in-house (the same method as Naver and Toss) · Dividend yield = cash dividend per share from DART filings (supplemented by KRX) ÷ current price · As of 2026-09-04

Bull factors

Major Momentum from BIGBANG's 20th Anniversary World Tour

BIGBANG began a 19-city, 33-show world tour in August, marking the return of a mega IP celebrating its 20th debut anniversary and directly contributing to concert and merchandise revenue in the second half.

Since concerts are considered a particularly high-margin business within the sector, the box-office performance of the tour's remaining dates is expected to be an important variable for Q3-Q4 results. The return of a mega IP could also broaden fandom reach and provide promotional spillover for new IP.

Faster Monetization of Younger-Tenure IP

The company attributed the Q2 2026 earnings surprise to merchandise sales linked to new BABYMONSTER and TREASURE releases and rising digital content demand.

KB Securities projected that as depreciation burdens tied to senior-tenure IPs wind down, operating leverage from younger IPs will become more pronounced from the second half.

As younger IPs prove their profitability, this can be read as a positive signal for portfolio stability by reducing reliance on a small number of mega IPs.

First New Boy Group in Six Years and a Pipeline of Follow-On IP

The company officially announced that a new five-member boy group will debut in September, the label's first new boy group since TREASURE in 2020, and stated that follow-on IP such as a next-generation girl group tentatively named 'Next Monster' will also be unveiled progressively.

If the new group establishes itself successfully, portfolio diversification could ease earnings volatility tied to dependence on specific artists. The early reception of the new group is likely to be a metric the market watches closely over the coming quarters.

Bear factors

Quarterly Deceleration in Revenue and Operating Profit

Revenue and operating profit peaked at KRW 173.1 billion and KRW 31.1 billion in Q3 2025 before declining each quarter to KRW 127.8 billion and KRW 11.0 billion in Q2 2026.

This reflects the fading base effect of concert revenue as the BLACKPINK world tour entered its final phase, and a similar deceleration could recur until a new major event fully offsets it. This illustrates the structural characteristic of results being heavily driven by activity schedules.

Non-Operating Volatility Causing Net Income to Fall Despite Operating Profit Growth

In Q2 2026, revenue and operating profit grew by double digits year-on-year, yet owners' net income fell 32.8%. In its earlier Q1 review, Hana Securities noted that valuation losses on financial assets tied to share price movements of a held equity stake constrained net income growth as a non-operating factor.

If this gap between operating profit and net income recurs, it adds the burden of tracking non-operating volatility when qualitatively interpreting results.

Repeated Revisions to Brokerage Target Price Expectations

Brokerage target prices, having been set at higher levels in the first half of 2025, were revised downward multiple times through 2026, with LS Securities stating in a January 2026 report that it was lowering its target price to reflect diminished earnings expectations.

Since then, talk of potential upward revisions has resurfaced after Q2 results beat market forecasts, but this back-and-forth itself shows that uncertainty around earnings estimates remains considerable. Volatility in estimates could persist until the performance of new IP and the major tour is confirmed.

Risk factors

Artist and Activity Schedule Dependency Risk

Because results are heavily driven by the concert and album schedules of a small number of mega IPs such as BLACKPINK and BIGBANG, a delayed tour or activity gap could cause revenue and margins to decelerate together.

With the success of new groups uncertain, reliance on existing mega IPs is unlikely to be fully resolved in the near term.

Non-Operating Profit and Loss Volatility

The impact of valuation gains and losses on financial assets, including held equity stakes, on net income has been repeatedly observed in recent quarters.

Even when operating profit improves, net income can diverge from expectations due to non-operating fluctuations, making it necessary to review both operating profit and net income together when interpreting results.

Uncertainty Over New IP Establishment

Whether the new boy group debuting in September and a future girl group successfully establish themselves in the market remains unconfirmed. Since developing new groups involves upfront marketing and activity costs, if commercial reception falls short of expectations, the cost burden could show up first.

What to watch next

September 2026
Check the debut of the first new five-member boy group in six years and its initial album and fandom reception.
During Q3 2026
Check attendance for the remaining dates of the BIGBANG world tour that began in August and the progress of BABYMONSTER's second world tour across Latin America, Oceania, and Europe.
Expected November 2026
In the Q3 earnings release, check how much the BIGBANG tour and younger-tenure IP contributed to revenue and margin.
After the new boy group's debut
Check how brokerages revise target prices and earnings estimates in response to the new IP.

Overall view

YG Entertainment restored profitability, swinging from a 2024 operating loss to a 2025 profit, but data from the trailing four quarters show revenue and operating profit declining each quarter as the base effect from the BLACKPINK tour's conclusion took hold.

In Q2 2026, non-operating volatility resurfaced, with net income falling even as operating profit grew.

In the second half, three events are unfolding simultaneously: the BIGBANG world tour that began in August, BABYMONSTER's second world tour, and the September debut of a new boy group, testing both earnings and the diversification of the IP portfolio at the same time.

Brokerage target prices, having come down from their 2025 highs, are in a fluid state with renewed talk of readjustment following the Q2 earnings surprise.

With dependence on a small number of mega IPs still high, the early reception of the new group and the sustained box-office performance of existing IP tours remain the key variables for gauging the future earnings trajectory.

Investment decisions should be made independently, based on continued monitoring of these business and earnings indicators.

Sources

Korea Exchange (KRX) — Prices · Market Cap · Volume
FSS electronic disclosure system (DART) — Financial statements · Dividend filings

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Report written 2026-09-05 · Data as of 2026-09-04

This content is AI analysis of market data and web search results, provided for information only. It is not a solicitation or recommendation to invest. Investment decisions and their consequences are the investor's own responsibility. Data may be delayed or contain errors.