HYBE rose more than 6% in early trading on the 30th. Buying appears to be gathering on news the previous day that first-quarter sales hit a record high.
As of 9:21 a.m. on the 30th, HYBE was trading at 270,000 won, up 17,500 won (6.93%) from the previous session on the Korea Exchange.
HYBE said the previous day that first-quarter revenue was 698.3 billion won, up 39.5% from 500.6 billion won a year earlier, which was the record high for the quarter.
The first-quarter operating loss was 196.6 billion won, turning to a loss from 21.6 billion won a year earlier. However, investor sentiment appears to have recovered on the explanation that it was a one-off expense with no net worth outflow.
A HYBE official said, "255.0 billion won that the largest shareholder (Chairman Bang Si-hyuk) contributed out of pocket in the form of a stock gift as a fund for employee performance bonuses was recognized as an expense in accounting."
Earnings improvement is expected to gain traction from the second quarter. In the second quarter, multiple groups are scheduled to make comebacks, including TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT), TWS, ILLIT, and Cortiz.
Analysts say both revenue and operating profit will increase as results related to BTS' "Arirang" world tour are reflected.