{"id":301779,"date":"2026-02-17T02:15:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T02:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/301779\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T02:15:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T02:15:13","slug":"hybes-us-restructure-weverse-turns-profitable-and-concerts-boom-3-things-to-know-from-the-k-pop-giants-latest-earnings-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/301779\/","title":{"rendered":"HYBE\u2019s US restructure, Weverse turns profitable and concerts boom: 3 things to know from the K-pop giant\u2019s latest earnings call"},"content":{"rendered":"

MBW Explains is a series in which we dig behind the headlines, via data and context, to improve your understanding of key stories. Only MBW+ subscribers<\/a> have unlimited access to these articles. MBW Explains is supported by Reservoir<\/a>.<\/p>\n

HYBE\u2019s latest earnings call offered a clear signal of where the K-pop giant\u2019s priorities lie in 2026: the return of BTS.<\/p>\n

All seven members have completed their mandatory military service, and will release their fifth studio album<\/a>, ARIRANG, on March 20 \u2013 followed by what HYBE is billing as the largest tour ever by a K-pop artist. CEO Jason Jaesang Lee told analysts the first confirmed schedule alone includes \u201c82 shows in 34 cities around the world, which is the most ever for a single tour by a K-Pop artist.\u201d BTS has also signed a deal with Netflix<\/a> to livestream the opening concert<\/a> and produce a documentary about the making of the album.<\/p>\n

The comeback comes at an important time for the South Korea-headquartered entertainment giant. HYBE posted record annual revenues<\/a> of KRW 2.65 trillion (USD $1.86 billion) in 2025, up 17.5% year-over-year, but operating profit fell 73% to just KRW 49.9 billion (USD $35.1 million) as the company spent heavily on launching new artists and restructuring its US business.<\/p>\n

The earnings call covered far more than BTS, though. Here are three things you might have missed\u2026<\/p>\n

<\/a>1. HYBE America is being restructured \u2013 at a cost of approximately KRW 200 billion in impairment losses<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most sobering disclosure on the call concerned HYBE\u2019s North American operations. CFO Lee Kyung-Jun confirmed that approximately KRW 200 billion (roughly USD $140 million) in impairment losses were recognized in Q4, resulting from what he called \u201ca more conservative and strict revaluation of HYBE America currently in the middle of business restructuring.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CFO noted that these are \u201caccounting losses with no actual cash outflow.\u201d<\/p>\n

As previously disclosed, HYBE has been restructuring its US operations<\/a> \u2013 a legacy of the 2021 acquisition of Scooter Braun\u2019s Ithaca Holdings<\/a>. Braun himself exited his role<\/a> as CEO of HYBE America in July last year, and on the same day as the FY 2025 earnings report on Thursday (February 12), HYBE confirmed that Scott Borchetta has also departed<\/a> the company.<\/p>\n

Borchetta had served as CEO of Big Machine Label Group<\/a> since the Ithaca acquisition, and will continue to use the Big Machine Records brand for future ventures. HYBE will retain BMLG\u2019s distribution deal, publishing company, and key artists including Thomas Rhett, Carly Pearce, and Jackson Dean, operating under a new label name.<\/p>\n

CFO Lee said the company has \u201cbeen transitioning from the management-centered business structure to a label-based integrated IP business model to reduce volatility in business performance and generate more stable profit.\u201d<\/p>\n

He acknowledged that \u201cone-off costs incurred during this process were recognized in the second half of 2025,\u201d but said these \u201cwere necessary measures aimed at improving mid-to-long-term profitability of the North American business through business restructuring, which in turn, will start to produce visible financial impact in 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a>Credit: PressKATSEYE are a priority act for HYBE\u2019s US division<\/p>\n

Despite the writedown, HYBE expressed confidence in the value of its US operations. \u201cThe value chain that HYBE has established in the US, including talent development, production and marketing, is proven to be competitive as demonstrated by the global success of KATSEYE,\u201d CFO Lee said.<\/p>\n

HYBE also highlighted the continued performance of its country music roster, noting that Riley Green had \u201cmade history by becoming the first artist since Taylor Swift in 2013 to top Billboard<\/a>\u2018s Country Airplay with two consecutive self-written songs,\u201d and won three awards at the 2025 CMAs. The company also confirmed it has signed a management contract with Tyla<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere at HYBE America, last month, the company appointed<\/a> veteran music exec Ethiopia Habtemariam<\/a>\u00a0as its new President of Music.<\/p>\n

2. Weverse has turned profitable \u2013<\/p>\n

CEO Lee confirmed that Weverse, HYBE\u2019s superfan platform<\/a>, had achieved profitability on an annual basis in 2025.<\/p>\n

He attributed the turnaround to growth in digital business lines \u2013 including digital membership and Weverse DM \u2013 which he said are \u201cindependent profit models that continue to generate profit regardless of artist activities.\u201d That digital business, he revealed, \u201chas been growing at an annual rate of 30%, and is accounting for more than 10% of the total revenue of Weverse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weverse hit a peak of 12 million monthly active users in June last year \u2013 a milestone driven by BTS\u2019s full-group reunion following the completion of all seven members\u2019 military service. However, that figure dipped to 11.2 million MAUs by Q4 2025. CEO Lee said that number had already increased by 15% in January \u2013 likely reflecting growing anticipation around BTS\u2019s album and tour.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

However, Lee indicated that HYBE is willing to sacrifice some of that profitability in the near term to expand the platform into new markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t really want to continue to maintain this profit structure as is because we want to grow this platform to be a truly global platform,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He described a cycle in which established markets generate profits, while new markets require investment that may temporarily reduce earnings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn some of the established markets, we will continue to generate profits. But in the new markets where we enter, we have to make investments for future growth, which may lead to some decline in profits to a certain extent.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. HYBE\u2019s concert revenues nearly matched its recorded music revenues \u2013 a shift that would have been unthinkable two years ago<\/p>\n

HYBE\u2019s concert business was the standout growth driver in 2025.<\/p>\n

The company held 250 concerts and 29 fan meetings over the year, generating what executives confirmed was the highest concert revenue in the company\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Photo Courtesy: PLEDIS EntertainmentK-pop stars SEVENTEEN officially launched the US leg of their SEVENTEEN WORLD TOUR at the Tacoma Dome, in October.<\/p>\n

CEO Lee revealed that HYBE\u2019s global ranking in Billboard\u2019s Top Promoter category rose five places from the prior year to fourth place, \u201cmaking HYBE one of the Big Four.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIn the Top Tour category, three out of four K-Pop teams belong to HYBE, reaffirming the strong ticket power of HYBE artists.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to HYBE\u2019s earnings report<\/a>, the company\u2019s concert revenues (KRW 763.9 billion) were just KRW 9 billion short of its recorded music revenues (KRW 773.0 billion).<\/p>\n

That is a dramatic shift from 2023, when recorded music generated nearly three times as much revenue as concerts.<\/p>\n

With the BTS World Tour ARIRANG set to launch in April, concerts could overtake recorded music as HYBE\u2019s largest revenue line in 2026.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Reservoir (Nasdaq: RSVR) is a publicly traded, global independent music company with operations across music publishing, recorded music, and artist management. <\/a>Music Business Worldwide<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MBW Explains is a series in which we dig behind the headlines, via data and context, to improve…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,61,60,278],"class_list":{"0":"post-301779","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}