HYBE Posts Record Third-Quarter Revenue as BTS Tour and KATSEYE Lift Results
HYBE, the Seoul-based company behind BTS and KATSEYE, reported record third-quarter revenue of 1.52757 trillion Korean won, about $1.135 billion, on November 3, 2026, according to UPI. The figure beat the company's previous quarterly high of 1.45 trillion won ($987 million).
Profit rose too. HYBE reported operating profit of 188.5 billion won ($140.35 million). Operating profit is the money left after the day-to-day costs of running the business are paid, before tax. The result topped the previous record quarterly profit of 170.9 billion won ($116 million). Billboard described the quarter as the best earnings report in the company's history, and credited BTS' continuing world tour.
Touring was the biggest single source of income. HYBE recorded touring revenue of 726.8 billion won ($541.7 million) in the quarter. Merchandise sales from BTS' North American tour alone brought in 107 billion won ($79.66 million). Across the company, merchandise and licensing revenue reached 334.6 billion won ($249.11 million). Licensing means other companies pay to use a brand, a name or a character on their own products.
Recorded music, which covers album and streaming income, came in at 282.8 billion won ($210.67 million). KATSEYE drove much of that activity. The group released its third EP, WILD, on August 14, and it debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart with 170,000 equivalent album units in its first week. Equivalent album units convert streams and track sales into the same measure used for albums, so they can be compared with physical copies.
KATSEYE also played 31 sold-out shows across Europe and North America in the quarter, according to HYBE's earnings report. Each of those dates needed venue staff, sound and lighting crews, drivers and merchandise sellers, and the revenue figures are, in part, a tally of their work.
The results arrive as a company that depends heavily on a few acts shows how far those acts can carry it. For fans, the numbers are a way of seeing how much of the music business now happens in arenas and on merchandise tables, not just on streaming platforms.
