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Is HYBE nothing without BTS? Stock prices fall drastically after group's hiatus news

Fans think HYBE's claim that BTS is not going on hiatus is media play to control their stock prices

Fans were not too far off the mark when they speculated that HYBE was entering the gaming business to stay afloat while BTS enlisted for their mandatory military service. According to an insider report, HYBE was trying to expand in other fields so that they would not have to rely on BTS for their business when the group went on hiatus. This argument has now been strengthened as the company’s stock prices fell drastically after the boys announced that they would be going on an indefinite hiatus to work on solo projects.

After disbanding the iconic girl group GFriend, HYBE’s current girl groups are not doing too well, with fromis_9 still being underrated while Le Sserafim is only turning heads for having two IZ*ONE members and Kim Garam’s bullying scandal. And while Seventeen is reaching its peak with 2 million sales in a week, the third-gen boy group and HYBE’s latest boy groups TXT and Enhypen still have a long way to go in terms of replicating BTS’ success, if that is even possible in the first place.

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Is HYBE’s stocks falling related to BTS’ hiatus?

On June 13, three days after BTS released their latest album ‘Proof’, HYBE’s stock prices fell by 9.62%. Knetizens were confused and wondered if BTS’ anthology album was not doing too well despite making historical records and becoming their best-selling album yet. It seems that the shareholders must have known of BTS’ indefinite hiatus and are not too happy with the move as on June 15, hours after the news, HYBE’s net worth has fallen by $1.7 billion. 

The Internet noticed that HYBE’s share prices went from 193k won to 140k won. While it is now stable at 145k won, the company’s stock prices are at a new low, having fallen by 59.9%. Billboard revealed that BTS earned $75 million with just seven concerts in 2022, made up 27% of HYBE’s US album sales and streams in 2021 and had earned $148 million alone with their tour in 2019. The report also states that BTS still accounts for 49% of HYBE’s music ventures’ income despite Seventeen, TXT and Enhypen gaining popularity in 2021.

‘Thank you for giving them false hope’

And so, many are sure that HYBE stating that BTS is not on hiatus - despite the members themselves saying otherwise - is just media play to do damage control and take care of their stocks. Knetizens made posts like, “A company that can’t do anything without BTS,” and “It’s hard to expect a new big star in HYBE, a company that has grown in size thanks to BTS but they’re saving money on BTS right now. HYBE is just a crap company.” Another tweeted, “I don't trust HYBE. The boys cried and looked genuinely upset when talking about the hiatus. This looks more like HYBE trying to prevent their stocks from crashing hard.”

One ARMY posted, “So hybe saying bts will continue as a group was just mediaplay to save crashing stocks?😹 thank you for giving them false hope.” Another said, “The fact that HYBE issued that press release clarification so fast around 3:00 AM in South Korea speaks to the need to make sure stocks did not take a hit once business hours opened locally.” One said, “The plunge in HYBE's stocks today highlights the unique vulnerability of the company. That they still rely heavily on one act that is BTS despite efforts to widen their pool of artists unlike SM, JYP and YG.”

Another ARMY added, “Hybe twisting the boys message because of stocks, profits and business is truly disgusting. armys please watch the festa dinner video and hear from them. the hybe statement is purely damage control.” One fan commented, “Nah I don’t believe HYBE… stocks dropped 6% that’s why they released this “unofficial” statement. I believe what BTS SAID. Don’t feed into the nonsense.”

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.