SM Entertainment (hereafter SM) is on a roll! The company continued its growth streak, recording a massive 279.1 billion won in revenue for the first quarter of 2026.
In a performance announcement on the 6th, SM revealed that its consolidated revenue for Q1 reached 279.1 billion won, with an operating profit of 38.6 billion won. That is a jump of 20.6% and 18.5%, respectively, compared to the same period last year!
Separate revenue for Q1 hit 189.3 billion won, up 14.4% YoY. Concert revenue specifically surged by 56.0%, while MD and licensing revenue grew by 20.3%, leading the way for stable growth. While operating profit showed a slight dip of 5.9% to 38.8 billion won due to the base effect of one-time music revenue from last year, it actually saw a real increase when that factor was excluded. Net profit also climbed 20.9% to 38.9 billion won.
This success comes from a perfect storm of strong album sales from core IPs, larger-scale concerts, great results in the MD and licensing sector, the consolidation of DearU, and revenue growth from major subsidiaries.
Global tours by heavy hitters like Super Junior, NCT DREAM, aespa, RIIZE, and NCT WISH really pushed concert revenues higher in Q1. Meanwhile, the MD and licensing sector saw a huge spike in lightstick and special MD sales, thanks to pop-up events for EXO’s full album, the NCT WISH project, and the aespa tour.
Subsidiaries are also doing great! SM C&C grew its advertising and management revenue, and SM Japan saw a boost as artists expanded their global reach. DearU has been a stable profit contributor since joining the consolidated accounts, and the combined operating profit of subsidiaries successfully swung back into the black compared to the same period last year.
SM is currently pushing for global expansion and stronger IP competitiveness through its “SM NEXT 3.0” strategy. Rookie girl group Hearts2Hearts, who debuted last year, are already making waves globally. Their hit tracks “The Chase” and “STYLE” have both surpassed 100 million streams on Spotify!
The momentum is not stopping! SM plans to keep growing in Q2 and Q3 with an incredible artist lineup. Q2 will bring full albums from Taeyong, aespa, and NCT WISH, mini albums from SHINee, RIIZE, and Hearts2Hearts, and a single from Ryeowook. Then, Q3 will be packed with full albums from Taeyeon and NCT 127, mini albums from Super Junior-83z, Red Velvet, and WayV, plus new releases from Yesung, Minho, and Yunho.
