Shares of South Korea’s K-pop powerhouses are flying high on expectations of resumption of offline concerts as the country is poised to return to normalcy.

SM Entertainment and JYP Entertainment continue to test historic highs Wednesday after closing at their highest Tuesday after jumping 9.08 percent to 81,700 won ($70) and 8.98 percent to 53,400 won, respectively, on the Kosdaq market.

SM finished Wednesday up 1.71 percent at 83,100 won after touching 2 trillion won in market cap for the first time during the day. JYP rose 0.37 percent to close at 53,600 won, with market cap reaching 1.9 trillion won.

SM broke the 1 trillion won market cap mark in July 2012 and JYP in August 2018.

BTS’ label Hybe and BlackPink’s YG Entertainment have also been on a strong note. Hybe shares rose 1.9 percent to finish at 348,500 won, extending their 4.91 percent gain on the previous day. The stock has surged 25 percent over the last two weeks, pushing its rank on the Kospi to 31 from 41.

YG jumped 0.85 percent to end at 71,500 won.

The country’s entertainment industry was hit hard by a series of allegations of prostitute coordination and corruption in 2019. Covid-19 further dragged down the industry after all offline stage concerts and film shootings came to a virtual halt.

But the continued global popularity of K-pop and Korean shows has brightened prospects for local entertainment companies. The recent rally has been also driven by expectations of their strong third-quarter earnings and resumption of physical concerts as countries around the world engage “living with” the coronavirus. Koreans also start returning to normalcy from next month.

Kiwoom Securities revised up its target stock price of SM from 78,000 won to 90.500 won and JYP from 58,000 won to 63,000 won. Samsung Electronics retained “buy” and price target for Hybe at 380,000 won.

The entertainment industry is expected to see a huge pent-up demand when K-pop stars return to live stages, said Lee Nam-su, an analyst from Kiwoom Securities.

By Pulse

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