Shares of HYBE Co. trading under the name of Big Hit Entertainment have running at new heights through the momentum of its buyout of international label Ithaca Holdings behind Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande.

Shares of HYBE whose name recently changed from Big Hit Entertainment rose 6.56 percent Tuesday to their highest closing of 276,000 won ($247.25). The stock has been skidding and underperforming its first day closing of 258,000 won on October 15, 2020.

HYBE debuted on the South Korea’s main Kospi market in October last year at around 270,000 won and touched 351,000 on the first day. It sank to 40,000 the following month. The recent announcement of its ascent to an international scale renewed institutional and retail buying.

The label behind BTS announced on April 2 that its fully-owned American subsidiary Big Hit America Inc. would buy a 100 percent stake in Ithaca Holdings led by renowned producer Scooter Braun for more than 1.2 trillion won ($1.07 billion). With the acquisition, HYBE brings global big-name artists including Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Black Eyed Peas under its roof. Ithaca Holdings posted 204.6 billion won in net profit last year.

The company is expected to grow rapidly to become unrivalled entertainment platform in the world with improved bargaining power based on 220 million subscribers of the two companies’ YouTube channels as well as surging content and goods sales, according to Hana Financial Investment analyst Lee Ki-hoon.

Market experts are betting high on its global growth. Seven brokerages including Korea Investment Securities, Samsung Securities, KB Securities and Hana Financial Investment revised upward their target prices to around 350,000 won after the announcement. Ebest Investment & Securities predicted the stock to go as high as 502,000 won.

“It is not impossible for the company to go for bigger labels,” said Ahn Jin-ah from Ebest, as the company is eyeing to bring together powerful artists with thick global fan-base to prepare for the post-Covid-19 era.

By Pulse

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