HYBE’s Stock Rebound Weakens Due to Negative Earnings Outlook and Suga’s DUI Incident

HYBE’s closing price on this day was 183,800 won, showing a 1.27% increase of 2,300 won from the previous day.

The stock initially experienced a drop of -1.49%, and at one point, it even decreased by -4.08%. However, it eventually recovered and remained steady before seeing a slight uptick just before the market closed.

The increase observed the previous day, which was 5.89%, was significantly higher compared to the rebound, which was much smaller.

On August 5th, during a market crash, HYBE saw a decrease of 5.92%. However, on August 6th, it slightly recovered with a 0.76% increase and then experienced a stronger rebound the following day, thanks to low-price buying during the previous day.

Despite this, Hana Securities decreased its target price for HYBE from 315,000 won to 300,000 won on this day, stating that HYBE’s third-quarter earnings have limited potential for a rebound.

According to their predictions, HYBE’s operating profit for the third quarter was expected to be 56.4 billion won, which would fall below the consensus estimate of 70.2 billion won.

Despite announcing record-high quarterly revenue of 640.5 billion won on a consolidated basis, HYBE’s second-quarter earnings, which were revealed the day before, indicated a 37.4% decrease in operating profit from the previous year, amounting to 50.9 billion won. This decline can be attributed to losses incurred in their new business ventures.

Furthermore, it was reported the day before that BTS’s Suga (born Min Yoon-gi), who is currently fulfilling his duties as a public service worker, was implicated in a DUI incident involving an electric scooter.

Suga was discovered by himself, having fallen off an electric scooter on a street in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul at approximately 11:27 PM on August 6th.

Upon being found by local law enforcement, a breathalyzer examination indicated a blood alcohol level that exceeded the legal limit for a driver’s license revocation (above 0.08%).

In their initial apology, Suga and Big Hit Music stated that the incident involved an “electric kickboard”, but it was later revealed to be an electric scooter. This caused criticism as it was perceived that they were trying to minimize the severity of the incident.