SM Entertainment Reveals Packed Comeback Lineup for Second Half of 2026 — Red Velvet, NCT 127, Girls’ Generation-HyoRiSoo, and More

SM Entertainment (SM) announced on August 5 that its consolidated revenue for the second quarter of 2026 reached 349.6 billion won, with operating profit at 52.9 billion won.

The figures mark year-over-year increases of 15.4% and 11.0%, respectively. SM attributed the growth to its artists’ active global concert tours, expansion of its merchandise and licensing business, and improved results from its subsidiary companies.

On a separate (non-consolidated) basis, SM’s Q2 revenue rose 9.2% year-over-year to 240.6 billion won, with appearance revenue up 27.9%, concert revenue up 23.6%, and merchandise/licensing revenue up 22.0% — showing balanced growth across categories. Operating profit and net profit, however, declined year-over-year by 4.6% and 18.1%, to 43.8 billion won and 24.1 billion won, respectively.

In the second quarter alone, global tours from TVXQ, Super Junior, EXO, aespa, and NCT WISH contributed significantly to concert revenue, while large-scale merchandise sales and pop-up events — including one marking NCT’s 10th anniversary, and others tied to album releases by aespa, RIIZE, and NCT WISH — helped broaden the company’s connection with fans.

SM’s subsidiaries also delivered solid results: Dream Maker saw substantial profit growth from an increase in domestic concert productions and expanded collaboration with SM itself, while Dear U continued its growth trend on the back of subscription price increases and a shift toward web-based payments.

Looking ahead, SM says the second half of the year will be packed. In the third quarter, Red Velvet released a mini album on August 3, with a full album from NCT 127, mini albums from Minho and WayV, and the debut single from new sub-unit Girls’ Generation-HyoRiSoo (Hyoyeon, Yuri, and Sooyoung) still to come.

The fourth quarter will bring full albums from Yesung, Taeyeon, Jaehyun, and NCT DREAM, along with mini albums from Max Changmin, Xiaojun, and NCT WISH, and a single from Hearts2Hearts.

On the touring side, aespa kicks off a new global tour on August 7–8 at Seoul’s Gocheok Sky Dome before heading to North America and Europe. Also hitting the road in the second half are U-Know Yunho, SUPER JUNIOR-83z (Leeteuk and Heechul), Yesung, Ryeowook, NCT 127, and WayV, along with an NCT WISH fan meeting tour.

Source: (A)