HYBE and JYP Entertainment were among the few music stocks to make gains this week as markets stumbled globally. HYBE, the home of BTS and its members’ solo projects, rose 7.2 percent to 215,500 won ($146.19), its best closing price since Nov. 20, thanks to Friday’s announcement that a BTS member J-Hope will Soon release new music and will begin a world tour starting in Seoul on February 28. JYP Entertainment, which achieved worldwide success with Stray children And ITZYrose 5.6 percent to 71,600 won ($48.57) after the company said it would launch a new boy groupKickflip, January 20.
The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index (BGMI) slipped 1.4% to 2,126.33, marking the fourth time in five weeks that the index has lost value. Only five of the 20 stocks ended the week in positive territory. Apart from HYBE and JYP Entertainment, only CTS Eventim (+3.4%), Believe (+3.2%) and Universal Music Group (+1.1%) posted gains. Three stocks (Cumulus Media, Deezer and Anghami) remained unchanged while 12 stocks experienced losing weeks.
Music stocks were dragged down by many market forces this week. Actions fell suddenly on Friday (January 10), following healthy employment figures that investors likely interpreted to mean the US Federal Reserve would not seek to cut interest rates at its January or March meetings. Additionally, University of Michigan data released Friday shows consumers’ expectations for future inflation. increased to 3.3% by 2.8%. In the United States, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2.3% to 19,161.63 and the S&P 500 fell 1.9% to 5,827.04. In the UK, the FTSE 100 rose 0.3% to 8,248.49. China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.3% to 3,168.52. South Korea is an exception as the KOSPI composite index increased by 3.0%.
Shares of Warner Music Group (WMG) fell 5.4% to $29.33 after three analysts lowered their price targets ahead of WMG’s quarterly earnings release on February 6. Guggenheim lowered its price target on WMG from $44 to $40 after factoring in an expected exchange rate of 1.5%. impact on revenue for the final quarter and a 1.7% impact on revenue for the full year ended September 30, 2025. Guggenheim also dropped its recorded music licensing estimate while maintaining its recorded music subscription revenue growth forecast in the “high single digits” range. Evercore lowered shares of WMG from $36 to $35. UBS lowered WMG to $41 from $43 and maintained its “neutral” rating.
Spotify, which reports its fourth-quarter results on February 4, fell 1.5% to $459.53. Goldman Sachs this week raised its Spotify price target from $490 to $550. Spotify shares have fallen in five of the last six weeks and are 9.3% below the all-time high of $506.47 set on Dec. 4.
Music streaming company LiveOne saw the biggest decline in the index, falling 12.4% to $1.20. Radio broadcaster iHeartMedia fell 11.7% to $1.88. SiriusXM continued its losing streak, falling 6.8% to $20.83. SiriusXM shares have fallen 58.3% in 2024 and 16.4% over the past three months. K-pop company SM Entertainment fell 5.1 percent to 68,900 won ($46.74).