SM Entertainment announces Q1 results and future plans of various idols

On May 6, SM Entertainment announced its consolidated Q1 2026 results, with sales of ₩279 billion KRW (about $189 million USD) and operating profit of ₩38.6 billion KRW (about $26.2 million USD), representing 20.6% and 18.5% growth compared to the same period last year.

Standalone Q1 sales rose 14.4% year-on-year to ₩189 billion KRW (about $128 million USD), driven by concert sales up 56.0% and merchandise and licensing sales up 20.3%, continuing a stable growth trend on a standalone basis. Operating profit decreased 5.9% to ₩38.8 billion KRW (about $26.3 million USD) due to the prior year’s one-off music content revenue base effect; excluding this one-off factor, operating profit effectively grew compared to last year. Net profit rose 20.9% to ₩38.9 billion KRW (about $26.4 million USD).

This performance reflects growth in core IP album sales, expanded concert revenue from larger scale performances, development in the merchandising and licensing segment, the impact of consolidation dear youand increased sales from key subsidiaries. As a result, the ratio of concert and IP-based income has expanded, diversifying the income structure.

In Q1, global tours by key IPs incl Super Junior, NCT Dream, aespa, RISEand NCT WISH helped drive concert revenue growth. Merchandise and licensing sales grew with increases in fan light sticks and planned merchandise, supported by EXO‘s full album release pop-up events, the NCT WISH project, and aespa’s tour.

Major subsidiaries also showed improved performance. SM C&C saw growth in advertising and executive sales, SM Japan‘s revenue increased due to overseas activities of company artists, and Dear U continued stable profit contributions after consolidation. Subsidiaries improved profitability with operating profit returning to the black compared to the previous year.

SM continues to advance its “SM NEXT 3.0” strategy focused on strengthening IP competitiveness and global expansion, enhancing content production capabilities and broadening its IP portfolio to solidify a foundation for medium-to-long-term growth.

Newbie group Hearts2Heartsdebuting last year, achievements in the global market have expanded rapidly. Their lead singles “The Chase” and “STYLE” each surpassed 100 million worldwide Spotify currents, and “RUDE!” achieved approximately 85% of its streams from overseas, and maintained strong international performance. In addition, Hearts2Hearts ranked first among K-pop girl group tracks released in 2026 on the Spotify Global Top 200 chart.

SM plans to sustain growth in album, digital music and concert sales through a strong artist lineup in Q2 and Q3. Scheduled releases in Q2 include full albums from Taeyongaespa, and NCT WISH; mini-albums of SHINeeRIIZE and Hearts2Hearts; and a single door Ryeowook. Q3 will see full albums of Taeyeon and NCT 127mini-albums of Super Junior-83z, Red velvetand ManierVas well as new releases of Jesus, Minhoand Yunho.

On the concert front, active global activities will continue. Aespa’s new world tour begins in Seoul and will span North America and Europe in the second and third quarters. EXO’s tour concert, Yunho’s first solo concert tour since debut, and concerts throughout Irene is also scheduled.