Former BTS Members Return, BLACKPINK Resumes World Tour... K-POP Market Shows Strong Growth Trend

BTS has announced a new album and world tour for spring 2026 following the completion of its former members’ military service. This marks the group’s first activity in over three years and signals a recovery for the K-POP industry. Meanwhile, BLACKPINK launched its “Deadline” world tour last week in front of 78,000 fans, marking their return to stages two years after the “Born Pink” tour. The “Born Pink” tour is reported to have generated the highest revenue among any group world tours to date. As album sales growth slows for K-POP agencies, global tours have become a key strategy to ensure profitability. Goldman Sachs recommended in a recent report focusing on “Mega IP” groups capable of attracting more than 1.5 million attendees per tour. According to Goldman Sachs, only four groups currently meet this criterion, and all of them are the sole K-POP groups able to conduct stadium tours in the United States. HYBE is the world’s largest K-POP agency by market capitalization and is listed on South Korea’s KOSPI index for blue-chip stocks. SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment are listed on South Korea’s KOSDAQ index for smaller-cap stocks. This year, the Big 4 agencies have seen significant increases in stock prices, as investors anticipate strong performance from the K-POP industry. HYBE’s boy groups ENHYPEN and SEVENTEEN are preparing to join the ranks of “Mega IP” groups by launching stadium tours in the U.S. ENHYPEN drew 1.2 million attendees for its world tour, while SEVENTEEN attracted 1 million attendees during its world tours in 2024–2025. Goldman Sachs has rated HYBE as the top-performing stock. JYP owns two of the four “Mega IP” groups but faces potential short-term performance volatility. Changes in profit distribution due to the renewal of STRAY KIDS’ contract are expected to reduce short-term margins. K-POP artists typically sign standard seven-year contracts with their agencies, and STRAY KIDS, which debuted in 2018, is approaching the end of its contract period this year. Morgan Stanley pointed out that JYP’s lack of new artists is a weakness.