Visitors visit the “the monsters Convenience Store” themed exhibition created by POP MART with IP LABUBU as the selling point, Shanghai, China, July 23, 2025.
Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images
Shares in Chinese toymaker Pop Mart reversed course to rise Wednesday, a day after the company posted a near-400% surge in net profit, driven by booming global demand for its Labubu dolls.
Pop Mart was trading 10% higher as of 1.52 p.m. local time (1:52 p.m. ET), after dropping as much as 4.7% at the start of the session.
The company’s revenue jumped 204.4% year on year to 13.88 billion yuan ($1.93 billion), and its net profit attributable to shareholders soared 396.5% to 4.57 billion yuan for the first six months of 2025, compared with last month’s forecast of at least 200% revenue growth and 350% rise in profit.
Beijing-headquartered firm’s Labubu plushies — sharp-toothed, big-eared ugly-cute dolls — have taken the world by storm, with its $30 keychains spotted on the bags of Rihanna and K-pop band Blackpink’s Lisa.
“The stock will likely make new highs in the coming weeks,” said Hao Hong, managing partner and CIO of Lotus Asset Management, on the back of Wang’s bullish comments following the call.
Hong highlighted that the stock’s volatility could be owed to short-sellers covering their positions. Since Pop Mart trades in a relatively thin market, short-sellers rushing to cover after unexpectedly bullish news could be behind the sharp jump, he said.
The choppiness could also be driven by domestic China hedge funds and retail investors taking profit, while global long-term institutional investors could be buying Pop Mart shares as a China consumption play, said William Ma, chief investment officer at Grow Investment Group.
Shares of Pop Mart in the past one year
Pop Mart CEO Wang Ning reportedly said Wednesday that the firm was well-positioned to hit its 2025 revenue target of 20 billion yuan, adding that reaching 30 billion yuan this year “should also be quite easy.” Pop Mart also said it will roll out a miniature Labubu this week that can be clipped onto phones.
In June, Chinese state media urged stricter oversight of blind-box toys and trading cards sold to children under the age of eight, suggesting measures such as age verification at checkout and parental consent for online purchases. Pop Mart pioneered “blind boxes,” where buyers discover the toys only after opening the mystery box.
While not directly naming the company, state media criticized businesses for encouraging kids to spend excessively on “mystery boxes” and “blind cards.”
There is no guarantee that consumers will continue to favor them in the next 5-10 years, as their preferences may change very fast.
“We think the longevity of popularity for Pop Mart’s key IPs remain uncertain. While sales growth of Labubu and other IPs remain robust, there is no guarantee that consumers will continue to favor them in the next 5-10 years, as their preferences may change very fast,” said Jeff Zhang, equity analyst at Morningstar.
Pop Mart’s stock has rallied more than 200% since the start of the year, data from LSEG showed.
“Shares likely remain overpriced as investors are overlooking the high business risk in the long run, in our view,” Zhang added.
Asia-Pacific, excluding China, was the company’s largest overseas market, with revenue soaring 257.8% to 2.85 billion yuan compared to the same period a year ago. The Americas made up its second-largest overseas market, with revenue jumping over 1,000% to 2.26 billion yuan.
Intellectual Property is at the “core” of Pop Mart’s business, the toymaker said in its earnings statement, adding that it will seek to continue expanding its global business footprint.
