In recent months, a noticeable trend has emerged in the K-Pop industry: a general decline in album sales. This shift has sent ripples across the market, impacting even the most prominent players in the industry. A prime example of this trend is the recent performance of ITZY — a leading girl group under JYP Entertainment — whose lackluster initial album sales have led to a significant drop in the company’s stock prices.
| JYP Entertainment
As of 3:14 PM on the 15th, JYP Ent. experienced a marked decrease in its stock value, trading at ₩89,400 KRW (about $68.10 USD), down ₩7,200 KRW (about $5.48 USD), or 7.45%, from the previous trading day. This decline is part of a broader trend affecting the entire entertainment sector, with other major companies also seeing their stock prices fall.
| JYP Entertainment
Notable among them are HYBE, down 5.62%, SM Entertainment, down 3.40%, and YG Entertainment, which fell 0.58% at the same time.
| SM Entertainment
Smaller companies such as Cube Entertainment also faced downturns, with its stock trading at 19,680 won, down 1,070 won (5.16%) from the previous day. Additionally, RBW saw a 3.45% decrease, and Fantagio dropped by 1.35%. Dear U, the company operating the fan platform Bubble, showed a 4.36% decline, trading at 32,900 won.
| Dear U Bubble
However, JYP’s stocks saw the biggest decline — which came as a shock due to the recent comebacks from their representative girl group ITZY, as well as NMIXX.
The overall weakness in entertainment stocks is primarily attributed to concerns over declining album sales. ITZY’s latest release, their 8th mini-album BORN TO BE, recorded initial sales of 318,693 copies in its first week. This figure is significantly lower than their previous album’s sales of 820,000 copies.
| JYP Entertainment
Analyst Noh Dong Il from Shinhan Investment Corp commented on the situation stating that ITZY’s performance is one of many things to have caused the stock decrease.
As for entertainment stocks, we expect it to be affected by the poor performance of JYP Entertainment’s marquee girl group’s comeback.
— Noh Dong Il
| JYP Entertainment
The situation highlights a challenging period for JYP Entertainment but also for the K-Pop industry at large. The decline in album sales for a group as prominent as ITZY suggests a broader trend that may require strategic adjustments from industry players. It remains to be seen how K-Pop labels will try to maintain promising album sales and avoid disappointment.
