SOUTH KOREA ENTERTAINMENT 2Q26E Preview; Resetting our valuation framework; Buy on HYBE and Neutral on JYP (d/g)

Research evidence excerpt

SOUTH KOREA ENTERTAINMENT 2Q26E Preview; Resetting our valuation framework; Buy on HYBE and Neutral on JYP (d/g)

Goldman Sachs South Korea Entertainment

o HYBE - non-BTS artist momentum: Hanteo first-day/first-week sales and

Circle monthly album sales for SEVENTEEN, ENHYPEN and TXT, alongside

announced tour dates, venue upgrades and attendance. The gap between

Circle shipments and Hanteo sell-through is also important for identifying

potential channel inventory.

o HYBE - new-IP traction: For CORTIS and KATSEYE, we track YouTube

subscriber additions and music video viewership; physical album sales; chart

performance; and announced fan meetings or concert venues.

o JYP - Stray Kids fandom growth and monetization: The most important

datapoints are Hanteo first-day/first-week sales and Circle cumulative album

sales vs. the previous release; YouTube subscriber and viewership growth; and

tour announcements by number of dates, venue capacity and regional mix.

Ticket sell-through, additional dates and venue upgrades will indicate whether

Stray Kids can continue growing from its already elevated base.

o JYP - new-artist scaling: For NMIXX, KickFlip and GIRLSET, we track Hanteo

first-week and Circle cumulative album sales, YouTube subscriber additions

and viewerships, and the scale and sell-through of initial fan meetings or

concert announcements. A sustained acceleration would reduce JYP’s

dependence on Stray Kids and TWICE.

HYBE 2Q26E earnings preview

n We expect HYBE to deliver a strong sequential acceleration in 2Q, with revenue

coming in at W1.2trn (+68% YoY and +70% QoQ), driven by a broad artist comeback

slate, the commencement of BTS’s world tour and robust tour-related monetization.

Album sales appear solid across major artists, with additional upside from BTS vinyl