KB News Desk
Stray Kids is on course to set new career highs in both Korea and the US, as its latest EP surpassed the first-week sales of its previous LP and industry projections pointed to its strongest US chart debut yet.
According to Hanteo Chart on Friday, the group’s 10th EP, “This & That,” released Aug. 7, sold approximately 3.28 million copies during its first week of release.
The figure beats the 3.04 million copies recorded by its fourth LP, “Karma,” released a year ago.
The result is particularly notable as “This & That” contains just eight tracks, compared with the 11 songs featured on “Karma.” The strong domestic performance comes as industry forecasts also point to the group’s biggest first-week performance yet in the US.
US music industry publication Hits Daily Double projects “This & That” will debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with roughly 335,000 equivalent album units during its first week, including an estimated 325,000 pure album sales.
If the projection holds, the EP would surpass the first-week performance of “Karma,” which debuted atop the Billboard 200 album chart with 313,000 equivalent album units, becoming Stray Kids’ biggest US debut to date.
It would also extend the group’s unprecedented streak on the Billboard 200. Stray Kids previously became the first act to debut its first eight charting albums at No. 1, a run that includes last year’s special album, “Do It.” A No. 1 debut for “This & That” would extend that record to nine consecutive chart-topping entries.
The latest figures also suggest that the group’s commercial growth is not limited to new releases.
According to JYP Entertainment’s second-quarter earnings report released Tuesday, shipments of Stray Kids’ catalog albums rose from 120,000 copies in the second quarter of last year to 420,000 copies during the same period this year — a 3.5-fold increase.
The agency attributed the growth to an expanding core fan base, noting that older releases have continued to sell steadily across North America and Europe, even during periods without new music.
JYP also said it plans to further cash in on the group’s intellectual property in the second half of this year and into 2027.
Stray Kids is currently in the midst of its “Run It” world tour, which launched with five sold-out concerts in southern Seoul in July. Additional “Run It” tour dates in North America and Europe are also planned throughout this year and 2027.
The group is also scheduled to headline Rock in Rio Brazil in September and launch its own “StrayCity” festival across three Latin American cities in Colombia, Argentina and Mexico in the same month.
