Despite the success of BTS powering South Korea’s largest K-pop agency Hybe to a stellar set of second quarter results, the agency saw as much as 2.845 trillion won ($1.96 billion) wiped from its market cap in less than 24 hours.

Shares of Hybe tanked 16.09% on Tuesday, marking its worst day since June 2022. It then extended losses to tumble as much as 16.31% on Wednesday to its lowest since September 2024.

The stock move was triggered by a miss in profit-margin expectations despite revenue and operating profit reaching record highs, according to analysts.

While concert revenue was the main driver of the record results, analysts said that concerts see more of their revenue paid out to the artists than the company, resulting in lower margins.

Concert revenue spiked 243.3% year on year and a whopping 630% compared to the previous quarter. This was mainly powered by BTS’ Arirang tour, which started on April 9 in South Korea.

Hybe’s operating margin for its second quarter stood at 11.8%, below SK Securities expectations of 12.7% and also falling short of the 12.2% expected by Eugene Securities.

In a July 29 note, SK analyst Park Jun-hyung said the higher proportion of tour revenue brought higher artist-settlement costs, which caused profitability to fall short of expectations.

Park’s assessment is echoed by IM Securities analyst Hwang Ji-won, who described mature-artist concert revenue — like BTS — as relatively low-margin, adding that the higher concert mix increased cost pressure.

The market had expected that revenue figures would be led by merchandise sales, which carry a higher profit margin, according to Kiwoom Securities analyst Lim Soo-jin. Margins for merchandise can go up to 50%, analysts previously told CNBC.

Hybe said in its earnings release that more than 200 more concerts from all its artists are expected in the second half of 2026, in addition to 119 concerts in the first half, which together would be the most for the company since 2021.

Spain reclaimed football’s biggest prize on Sunday, defeating Argentina 1-0 after extra time in a tense World Cup final that delivered high drama both on and off the pitch.

Ferran Torres’ decisive strike settled the contest, ending Argentina’s title defense and handing Spain its second World Cup crown.

The defeat was especially poignant for Lionel Messi, who left the field in tears after collecting his runners-up medal in what is expected to be his final World Cup appearance.

U.S. President Donald Trump joined FIFA President Gianni Infantino for the medal and trophy presentation, while the leaders of fellow co-hosts Canada and Mexico attended the final. Trump and Infantino were booed during the ceremony.

Beyond the game, one of the evening’s biggest talking points was a Super Bowl-inspired halftime show. Shakira, Madonna, BTS, Justin Bieber and Burna Boy took the stage during an extended break curated by Coldplay’s Chris Martin.

Concert tourism is expected be one of the travel industry’s more lucrative drivers this year, according to Trip.com, and the upcoming global comeback tour by K-pop group BTS appears to be reinforcing that trend.

Flights and hotel rooms at their tour locations — in 34 cities across Asia, North and South America, Australia, Europe and the UK, from April 2026 to March 2027 — have sold out just as fast as their concert seats, and spillover tourists are expected to lend an additional income boost to host cities.

Within 48 hours of the tour announcement on Jan. 13, travel searches for South Korean cities Seoul and Busan increased by 155% and 2,375%, respectively, compared with the week before the announcement, according to the travel booking platform Hotels.com.

The momentum’s also extended beyond South Korea. In the host city Kaohsiung, Taiwan, searches surged 6,700% year on year during the Nov. 19 tour date, according to another travel agent platform, Booking.com.

Other major tours expected to draw international travel this year include those by Bruno Mars, Harry Styles and K-pop group EXO.

Despite covering more regions than they’ve ever had and tripling their ticket inventory, BTS’ latest tour titled ‘Arirang,‘ sold out in 20 minutes. Their last “Permission to Dance” tour in 2021-2022 sold out in 5-6 hours.

Fans who were unable to complete their purchases due to internet connection issues or poor reflexes during ticket sales have had to resort to the secondhand market.

Resale ‘Arirang’ ticket prices responded to the voracious appetite of fans, with some tickets featured on the resale platform StubHub going for around $7,276, nearly 40 times the original price, according to checks by CNBC.

Fans also struggled to find suitable accommodations, as high demand fueled price gouging.

Hotel rooms near major transit hubs in South Korea were fully booked on BTS’ tour dates, despite some charging more than double typical weekend rates, according to local reports.