According to a report by Korean media outlet Sports Donga via Naver, HYBE posted second-quarter 2026 revenue of 1.45 trillion won and operating profit of 170.9 billion won both all-time quarterly highs. It marks the first time the company has broken the 1 trillion won revenue mark in a single quarter and the first time operating profit has cleared 100 billion won. First-half cumulative sales also topped 2 trillion won for the first time.
Concerts led the surge at a record 647.7 billion won, followed by music sales of 326.8 billion won and merchandise-plus-licensing revenue of 310.6 billion won. Operating margin sat at 11.8 percent. BTS’s return album Arirang hit No. 1 on both vinyl and CD charts in the United States, the group’s ongoing world tour packed venues worldwide, and the members performed the FIFA World Cup final halftime show on July 20.
BTS completed mandatory military service by mid-2025 and launched Arirang in March 2026, immediately followed by what the company has billed as the largest K-pop world tour to date. That timing turned 2026 into a full-scale group comeback year after years of staggered solo activities. HYBE’s broader roster amplified the effect: five of the top-ten U.S. CD albums in the first half belonged to its artists, while seven acts BTS, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, ENHYPEN, BOYNEXTDOOR, TWS, CORTIS, and &TEAM registered million-seller status on South Korea’s Circle Chart.
Twelve HYBE acts already staged 119 shows in the first half; more than 200 additional dates are locked for the second half, putting the full-year total well above last year’s 279 performances. Weverse monthly active users also hit a new peak of 14.43 million, with overall payments up 12 percent and average spend per paying user rising 24 percent.
International fans reacted with a mix of pride and pointed credit. On X, ARMY accounts flooded timelines with screenshots of the earnings release, many declaring that “only BTS can do this” and calling the numbers proof of the group’s unmatched commercial pull after military service. Others highlighted the World Cup stage and stadium attendance records as evidence that the tour is rewriting K-pop’s global scale, while a few rival-fandom voices tried to downplay the figures an exchange that only intensified the celebration among BTS supporters.
The consensus across English-language posts remains clear: the long-awaited full-group return has delivered results that even optimistic forecasts struggled to match.
Source: Sports Donga
