YG Unleashes Full Force of Artists in Second Half of Year... BLACKPINK Set for January Comeback, BABYMONSTER to Release New Album

YG Entertainment is set to resume full-scale activities for its artists in the second half of the year. In May, YG announced its future artist activity plans and growth strategies, aiming to improve album release timelines through internal system changes and expand its IP portfolio. The specific schedules for each group are as follows. BLACKPINK will restart their world tour starting July 5 and is preparing to release a new album. Although various predictions have emerged regarding BLACKPINK’s comeback timeline, YG stated that it is in the final stages of ensuring musical perfection and promised to share good news through official promotions once preparations are complete. Recent the comeback is scheduled for January next year, marking the first album in approximately four years since their 2022 second studio album. BABYMONSTER plans a North American tour beginning August 30 followed by a new album release on October 1, while TREASURE is set to release a new album on September 1 and resume its world tour in October. Additionally, WINNER will hold concerts in South Korea and Japan for the first time in a long time. Analysts are giving positive assessments to YG’s activity plans. Hwang Ji-won, an analyst at iM Securities, said, “It is very positive that they have improved visibility by accelerating album releases and expanding their IP portfolio. Especially considering the scale of the tours for BLACKPINK and BABYMONSTER that will be announced later, a sharp improvement in performance is expected starting from the second half of the year.” The plan also includes the debut of a new boy group next year and solo song releases by members of a new four-member girl group that will debut afterward, which is expected to gradually reduce performance volatility caused by reliance on a single IP. The analyst raised the target price to 112,000 won by applying a Target P/E ratio of 28 times to the 2026 EPS and issued a ‘BUY’ recommendation. YG stated that both members and staff will give their best efforts for the remaining schedule to deliver the highest quality results possible.