Pop Mart hat den "Berg der Vorurteile" überwunden.
On April 24th, at the Pop Mart store on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, American consumers lined up in droves for a little elf "with long ears and nine bared teeth." The scene of the mad rush was comparable to the launch of a new iPhone.
This phenomenon was not limited to Chicago. With the global release of the third - generation LABUBU vinyl plush product series "High - Energy Ahead," there were also frenzied buying sprees in Milan, Italy, London, UK, and Harajuku, Japan. The newly opened first store in Cambridge, UK, was also swarming with people. Meanwhile, on April 25th, the Pop Mart app jumped 114 spots in one day to become the top - ranked shopping app on the US App Store. This was also Pop Mart's first time reaching the top of the App Store.
In the international market, the star effect of LABUBU needs no further elaboration. More remarkably, Pop Mart's stock price soared along with its ranking on the App Store.
As of the close on April 28th, Pop Mart's stock price rose by over 12% to HK$193 per share, with a total market capitalization of HK$259.188 billion. Since the beginning of 2025, Pop Mart's stock price has accumulated a gain of over 114%.
It is an obvious fact that this company, which is often said to be "incomprehensible" by investors, has carved out a huge market full of imagination from the niche track of emotional consumption. In just two years, Pop Mart has rapidly gone through the entire process from "glory - trough - rise," staging an epic reversal myth once again.
Pop Mart's reversal is not an isolated case. Since the beginning of 2025, Laopu Gold and Mixue Ice Cream & Tea, also listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, have also outperformed in terms of performance. Similar to Pop Mart, in an unstable economic environment and international situation, these brands that can meet consumers' social needs and self - gratification attributes are more likely to weather economic cycles.
When the market enters the stage of "emotional consumption," the entire consumer sector may restart, and the valuation logic will also be reshaped.
Breaking Prejudices One by One
After the pandemic in 2022, offline stores were severely hit. Pop Mart, which was already in an adjustment period, saw its gross profit margin hit a record low that year. The panic in the secondary market led investors, including Zhang Kun, a star fund manager at E Fund, to sell their Pop Mart shares at the bottom of the U - shaped curve.
Looking back, there were mainly three "misunderstandings" about Pop Mart in the market at that time.
First, the revenue contribution of the main IP, MOLLY, was too high. Second, in the short term, there was no sign of new growth in the domestic market for Pop Mart.
Third, and most importantly, people didn't know how to understand the essence of this company. Is Pop Mart a toy company, or can it truly become an IP company with a higher ceiling? How much imagination does the so - called "trendy toys" have? Is it a "big business" or a "small business"?
"At that time, I saw that 90% of the media said that Pop Mart's 'bubble had burst,' and most of them simply didn't understand it."
Actually, Wang Ning, the Chairman and CEO of Pop Mart International Group, may have realized the problems that would restrict Pop Mart's development earlier than the market.
From previous financial reports, as early as 2022, the somewhat "punk - style" SKULLPANDA had surpassed MOLLY to become Pop Mart's most profitable IP. In 2023, SKULLPANDA continued to top the revenue list. By 2024, the top spot was taken over by the phenomenal super - IP LABUBU. The popularity of LABUBU also drove a comprehensive surge in the THE MONSTERS series.
Pop Mart's 2024 financial report shows that in the previous year, the THE MONSTERS series achieved a revenue of 3.041 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 726.6%. In addition, all four of Pop Mart's top IPs (THE MONSTERS, MOLLY, SKULLPANDA, Crybaby) achieved revenues of over 1 billion yuan. The revenues of 13 IPs, such as Dimoo World and Hirono, also exceeded 100 million yuan.
From the perspective of the revenue structure, each of Pop Mart's IPs is developing steadily. All these indicate that Pop Mart has established a mature IP ecosystem. With the rise of many excellent IPs, Pop Mart has gradually enriched its product categories, including the high - end MEGA series, building blocks, accessories, and the plush product series, which performed best last year.
The financial report shows that in 2024, the revenue from Pop Mart's plush products reached 2.832 billion yuan, a staggering increase of 1289%. In addition, the revenue of the MEGA series also reached 1.68 billion yuan, accounting for 12.9% of the total revenue.
In contrast, the revenue contribution of Pop Mart's figurine products decreased from 76.1% in 2023 to 53.2% in 2024. The development of multiple product categories has also brought a higher average customer spending and gross profit margin to Pop Mart. All of this has always revolved around Pop Mart's development logic of "IP groupization."
To some extent, Pop Mart has successfully transformed from a product - based company to an IP - based company.
LABUBU: A Global Super - Star
Among all the IPs under Pop Mart, LABUBU has quickly become a global sensation with incredible momentum.
After Thai star Lisa became a voluntary promoter of LABUBU, divas Rihanna and Cate Blanchett also joined the "LABUBU fans." Driven by the star effect, the popularity of LABUBU quickly spread among ordinary consumers.
A story often mentioned by the media is that on the day when Pop Mart opened its first pop - up store in Spain, a girl sang the "LABUBU Song" while trying to explain the brand to another girl. Soon, the whole venue turned into an ocean of people singing the "LABUBU Song."
This makes people wonder what exactly is the reason for LABUBU's global popularity across different cultural circles. If the spontaneous promotion by stars and influencers is an accidental phenomenon, is there also an inevitability behind LABUBU's successful overseas expansion?
Wang Ning has mentioned on many public occasions that muscles are often built in the face of headwinds.
In 2022, when Pop Mart was facing the most external controversy, it opened its first overseas direct - operated store in Seoul. After years of investment and exploration, Pop Mart has gradually developed a set of mature "overseas expansion methodologies."
Wen Deyi, the Co - COO of Pop Mart International Group, once introduced that the company first assesses the value of entering a certain market based on the sales volume of cross - border e - commerce and the interaction on social media. If it decides to enter, it will first open a pop - up store. If the results are good, it will make a large - scale investment. In addition, when choosing store locations, Pop Mart prefers to open "super landmark stores."
The 2024 financial report shows that the total number of Pop Mart's overseas stores reached 130. The revenue from overseas markets and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan regions increased by 375.2% year - on - year to 5.07 billion yuan, and the revenue contribution increased significantly from 16.9% in 2023 to 38.9%.
Since the beginning of 2025, Pop Mart has accelerated its overseas market layout.
As previously revealed by Wen Deyi, Pop Mart will open 100 iconic offline stores in multiple countries, including France, the United States, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, and Australia.
On April 14th, Pop Mart comprehensively upgraded its global organizational structure, setting up regional headquarters in the Greater China region, the Americas region, the Asia - Pacific region, and the European region respectively. The general perception in the industry is that such an organizational structure model is conducive to magnifying the advantages of each region of Pop Mart and enabling in - depth development in overseas markets. The middle - office departments of the company can also more flexibly and efficiently allocate resources and talents to each region, greatly improving the overall synergy efficiency of the group.
It is certain that when the domestic market competition becomes a red ocean, seeking growth in the international market is inevitable. Pop Mart's success in opening up the European and American markets has also shattered the market's prejudice that Chinese brands can only gain a foothold in Southeast Asia. With the acceleration of Pop Mart's globalization, LABUBU may truly become a world - class IP originating from China.
The "Insurmountable" IP Barrier
However, earlier, Pop Mart's IP operation mode was also questioned. From an industry perspective, Pop Mart has successfully created many classic IPs in a non - mainstream and non - traditional way.
At the financial report press conference, Wang Ning once described Pop Mart's IP incubation form as an efficient platform like "Douyin."
"We try to 'chop up' our resources and constantly monitor the popular elements in the market and the sales performance of products. Then we decide whether to invest more resources in a particular IP. At the same time, Pop Mart also maintains cooperative relationships with world - class IP companies such as Disney and Universal Studios."
Take LABUBU as an example. Pop Mart had been investing in the plush product category more than two years ago, but there was no perfect product form until one day the vinyl plush product appeared at a product meeting.
"At that moment, everyone felt that this was the right thing. The liquid vinyl fits well with the mold, and the vinyl process can make LABUBU's facial expressions more vivid. The form of the plush keychain also provides more interactive scenarios than figurines placed at home."
To further enrich the IP image of LABUBU, Pop Mart also created an exclusive interactive performance called the "Elf Warrior Training Camp" for the character in the city park.
On social networks, the dance of Zimomo, the leader of the LABUBU clan, went viral. After seeing the video, many people spontaneously learned about the story behind THE MONSTERS. Some netizens even commented, "Now I finally understand why I fell in love with Lingna Beier before. Zimomo's dance is so cute."
As Wang Ning said, whether it's MOLLY or LABUBU, once an IP image is successfully launched, it will have a long life cycle. This year is the tenth anniversary of LABUBU, and next year will be the twentieth anniversary of MOLLY. 'The company's development may fluctuate, but in fifty years, MOLLY will still be a five - or six - year - old child.'
Undoubtedly, with the growth of Pop Mart's performance and the return of its valuation, the market's prejudices have been largely dispelled. Pop Mart's comeback is sufficient proof that trendy toys are not just a passing fad but a long - term viable big business. At present, after successfully launching IP images such as MOLLY and LABUBU, Pop Mart is difficult to be surpassed by other competitors in the short term and has the confidence to weather economic cycles continuously.
"To be honest, it's not easy. There are few companies with a market capitalization of over 100 billion, and even fewer can see their stock prices fall, rise again, and reach new highs. This is good for us. Every enterprise has to go through a tough time, and the whole process will help us think more deeply."
At the performance press conference, Wang Ning expressed his feelings like this.
He also admitted that the good results in 2024 have given Pop Mart enough confidence. He hopes that in 2025, Pop Mart can achieve a revenue of 20 billion yuan, a growth of over 50%.
Judging from the current queues of consumers in major cities around the world, "Pop Mart becoming a global brand" may not be far away.