November 11, 2025
SEOUL – Hybe, the K-pop powerhouse behind BTS, has set a new record for quarterly revenue, driven by strong global tour performances, with cumulative sales through the third quarter approaching 2 trillion won ($1.37 billion).
The company on Monday reported consolidated revenue of 727.2 billion won in the third quarter, up 37.8 percent from the same period last year. This surpasses the previous quarterly record of 726.4 billion won set in the fourth quarter last year. With strong growth in the first two quarters of the year as well, cumulative revenue through September totaled approximately 1.93 trillion won.
Direct engagement revenue — including artists’ album sales, world tours and live events — reached 477.4 billion won, accounting for around 66 percent of total revenue. Major global tours, including BTS member Jin’s solo tour and those by Tomorrow X Together and Enhypen, contributed to a threefold increase in concert revenue to 245 billion won. Album sales, however, decreased to 189.8 billion won due to relatively fewer artists putting out new work.
Indirect engagement revenue, including merchandise items, licensing, content and fan club operations, rose 22 percent to 249.8 billion won. Merchandise and licensing led the growth, with sales totaling 168.3 billion won — up 70 percent year-on-year — boosted by tour merchandise, light sticks and intellectual property-based character goods tied to artists’ tours.
Weverse, the global superfan platform operated by Hybe, also turned a profit in the third quarter, driven by new digital membership and advertising initiatives. The platform plans to expand its presence with the launch of Weverse DM on China’s QQ Music on Nov. 18.
Meanwhile, Hybe posted an operating loss of 42.2 billion won, down by 5.8 percent, for the quarter. One-off expenses related to global intellectual property expansion and the restructuring of its North American operations contributed to a drop of 12 percentage points in operating margin.
Early-stage marketing and content production for these large-scale projects contributed to a drop of 6 percentage points in operating margin. Investments in global artist intellectual property included the debut of boy band Cortis in South Korea. In Latin America, five-member boy band Santos Bravos and co-ed group Musza debuted under Hybe Latin America’s S1ento Records, with additional acts such as Destino and Low Clika preparing to debut.
“While profitability has temporarily decreased due to multiple debuts, the expansion of global fandoms and revenue base stabilization will strengthen Hybe’s growth structure over the medium to long term,” Hybe Chief Financial Officer Lee Kyung-jun said in a statement.
One-off costs from the North American restructuring also accounted for roughly 6 percentage points of the margin decline. The company said it is shifting from a management-focused to a label-centric intellectual property integration business model to improve profitability and operational stability.
“Our K-pop division, the core of Hybe, is expected to maintain 10 to 15 percent profitability this year, indicating strong fundamentals. Most of the current profitability pressures are expected to ease in the fourth quarter, paving the way for revenue structure improvement from next year,” Hybe CEO Lee Jae-sang said.
“From next year, we expect to enter a phase of profitability recovery, led by BTS’ return, accelerated growth of K-pop artists, expansion of our multihome, multigenre strategy and stable profitability of Weverse.”