Research Insights on the Series of Leading Consumer Brands [6] —— The Stock Market Dark Horse with Over 10-fold Growth: How did Pop Mart transform from a “general store” into a globally renowned consumer myth?

In February 2024, the stock price of Pop Mart was still hovering around HK$16. Unexpectedly, on June 12, 2025, Pop Mart reached a record high of HK$283.4 per share, with a maximum total market capitalization of HK$366.1 billion (approximately RMB 335 billion). In just two years, Pop Mart's growth rate of over 10 times has made it a hot topic in the market, and it is jokingly called "the Moutai of the younger generation" by stock investors.

Is Pop Mart's success just a flash in the pan boosted by "capital and celebrities", or a paradigm revolution in the emotional industry in the new consumption era? What is the core competitiveness of its business model? Facing stock price fluctuations, the life cycle of IPs, and the risk of continuous profitability, how can this 15-year-old "trendy toy empire" achieve continuous growth?

Industrialization of Emotional Symbols: From "Toys" to "Social Currency", Creating a Phenomenal Consumption Boom

The 2024 financial report shows that the average single consumption of Pop Mart users reached 228 yuan, of which 62% was used for repurchasing blind boxes of the same series. Opening blind boxes is an "expectation - surprise/disappointment" experience mechanism with high emotional value. The low proportion of hidden items stimulates the desire to collect and leads to addictive purchasing behavior. It can be said that Pop Mart's success is an inevitable result of the industrialized consumption of emotional symbols.

However, the "emotional symbol toys + blind box mechanism" only makes the product purchasing addictive and does not have the industrial effect to trigger a large - scale craze. The popularity of Pop Mart on the social level cannot be separated from the support of the celebrity effect.

In 2024, Lisa, a member of Blackpink, posted a selfie with the LABUBU Macaron series, and the products were instantly out of stock in the Thai market. Celebrities such as Rihanna and David Beckham "promoted" the products, which led to a 68% monthly increase in the number of TikTok followers. When overseas traffic "flowed back" into the domestic market, the emotions at home and abroad were ignited in both directions, completely detonating the phenomenal spread on global social media.

Figure 1: In - depth Analysis of Pop Mart's Business Model

Creating "Collectible Value" with "Scarcity", Can Pop Mart Become the Next Moutai?

After the LABUBU series contributed 3.04 billion yuan in revenue in 2024, Pop Mart's market value exceeded HK$360 billion. Pop Mart endows trendy toys with scarcity and collectible value through limited - edition releases and the hidden item mechanism (with a probability as low as 0.69%). For example, the first - generation LABUBU was sold at a sky - high price of 1.08 million yuan, and the second - hand premium of some co - branded models reached 30 times.

This "quasi - financial" attribute has attracted speculative funds, promoted the expansion of the secondary - market trading volume, and directly stimulated the stock price to rise. It is called "the Moutai for young people" by netizens.

However, if Pop Mart's value only lies in emotional resonance, trendy toy attributes, and social currency, its short - term explosive power in the capital market will not be sustainable. The 14% retracement after the sharp rise also shows investors' concerns about its sustainability.

The root cause is that trends are cyclical and unpredictable. Supported by the dividend of emotional consumption and global cultural narratives, Pop Mart needs to establish a more stable IP operation and multi - form development layout to create long - lasting IPs and continuously stimulate the vitality of brand culture. Maybe it can't become the Moutai in the capital market, but it is already on the way to becoming the Disney of China.

Figure 2: 15 - year Development History of Pop Mart

Make Pop Mart a Global Brand and Become the "Chinese Paradigm" for Global Cultural Capital Discounting

Pop Mart's full - year financial report for 2024 shows that driven by the globalization strategy, the revenue of Pop Mart's business in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and overseas reached 5.07 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 375.2%. The revenue share increased to 38.9%, and its business has spread to nearly 100 countries and regions around the world. From a "blind box company" to a "global full - category IP ecological group", Pop Mart has great ambitions.

From an interview with Wang Ning, we can see that what he wants to achieve is to "create a globally replicable cultural capital operation system" - transform "emotions" into mass - producible cultural products and turn "traditional consumption" into cultural consumption and experiential rituals. This not only tests Pop Mart's platform operation ability and the innovation ability of artists but also tests consumers' enthusiasm and patience for successive trend cycles.

But it must be admitted that in the chaotic business world, those who have a deep understanding of the essence of culture will have the ultimate power to cross cycles.

Disclaimer

All the data in this article are from public sources. We have taken reasonable measures to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the information. However, due to the limitations of the data sources themselves, there may be certain errors or deviations. The views, conclusions, and suggestions in this article are for reference only and do not represent any specific investment advice or decision - making basis, nor do they represent the position of Zhidemai Technology Group. Any third - party names, brands, or products mentioned in the article are for illustration purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement or recommendation of them.