NH Investment & Securities assessed that following the release of some tour schedules for Blackpink and news of the lifting of the ban on Korean cultural content in China, expectations for performance and momentum are rising due to the potential resumption of concerts in China. It maintained its investment opinion of 'buy' and increased the target price by 25% to 75,000 won. YG Entertainment's closing price the previous day was 60,200 won.
Earlier, on 19th, some of the Blackpink tour schedules were revealed. Lee Hwa-jeong, a research analyst at NH Investment & Securities, noted, "For the Blackpink tour, details of 13 performances in 10 cities have been disclosed initially," and added, "The average audience per show exceeds 55,000, which is double the number from the previous tour (27,500).
It is expected that the guarantee per show will rise significantly, and sales of merchandise will also show strong performance. It was also anticipated that around 60 stadium tours, including encores, would take place over the year starting from July.
Recently, the news that the ban on Korean cultural content might be lifted has heightened expectations for the resumption of concerts in China. The research analyst stated, "The resumption of concerts centered around Blackpink and Big Bang is anticipated," and explained that in the 2015 Big Bang 'MADE tour' conducted prior to the lift of the ban, 21 out of 66 shows were held in China.
However, NH Investment & Securities projected that YG Entertainment's performance in the fourth quarter of last year would be poor. YG Entertainment is expected to report a consolidated revenue of 87.5 billion won, a 20% decrease from the previous year, and an operating loss of 700 million won, indicating a shift to a deficit compared to the same period last year.