The Birth of the 400 Billion Pop Mart

Author | Li Xiaoxia

Editor | Qiao Qian

Although the preview was given a month ago and the surprises had been revealed in advance, when Pop Mart's mid - year financial report was finally released, people couldn't help but be amazed at the rapid growth of its performance.

In the first half of the year, Pop Mart's revenue reached 13.88 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 204.4%; the net profit attributable to the parent company was 4.574 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 396.5%; the adjusted net profit was 4.71 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 362.8%. The gross profit margin increased from 64% last year to 70.3%.

Looking back at 2024, Pop Mart's annual revenue exceeded 10 billion yuan for the first time, reaching 13 billion yuan. The net profit attributable to the parent company was 3.125 billion yuan, and the adjusted net profit was 3.4 billion yuan.

That is to say, Pop Mart achieved last year's full - year performance in just half a year.

Perhaps unable to contain his inner joy, at the financial report meeting on August 20th, Si De, the co - COO of Pop Mart, suddenly burst into laughter when sharing the business situation and saying, "Last year, we successively launched more new product lines and forms of Molly."

When asked about the performance guidance, Wang Ning said that at the beginning of the year, the company was confident that this year's revenue would increase by 50% to reach 20 billion yuan, but now it feels that it can easily reach 30 billion yuan this year.

Driven by the financial report and guidance, Pop Mart's intraday increase exceeded 11%. Its stock price hit a record high of over HK$318, and its market value exceeded HK$420 billion.

It is worth mentioning that this is the first financial report after Pop Mart's global organizational structure adjustment and also the first financial report after LABUBU was promoted to a national - level and world - class IP.

Compared with the overall performance that had been revealed in advance, more attention was focused on Pop Mart's overseas expansion and the impact of LABUBU on the company and its sustainability.

This is related to the process of replicating a Pop Mart overseas and also to answering the question of whether Pop Mart relies too heavily on a single IP.

Wang Ning, the founder of Pop Mart

The Inescapable LABUBU

The first half of the year belonged to LABUBU.

This little monster with big eyes and nine sharp teeth sparked discussions on social media, attracted long queues at stores, and even got international superstars hooked. The whole world went crazy for it. In the financial report, THE MONSTERS, where LABUBU belongs, had a revenue of 4.81 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 668%, accounting for 34.7% of the total revenue.

As is well - known, LABUBU became popular for its plush toys. Even today, LABUBU products are still in short supply in Pop Mart stores and online shops.

This directly drove a 1276% increase in Pop Mart's plush toy category in the first half of the year, with the revenue reaching 6.14 billion yuan, accounting for 44.2% of the total revenue. For the first time, it exceeded the figurines, which had always been the core category, and became the company's largest category. The revenue of figurines in the first half of the year was 5.18 billion yuan, accounting for 37.3%.

Everything has its trace.

In 2024, when Pop Mart first divided its business into four major categories: figurines, plush toys, MEGA, derivatives, and others, it might have seen the potential of plush toys.

During the same period last year, figurines accounted for as high as 58.3%, while plush toys accounted for only 9.8%, ranking after MEGA (accounting for 12.9%). However, it was the fastest - growing category, with a growth rate of 993.6%. By the end of last year, the revenue growth rate of plush toys was 1289%, reaching 2.83 billion yuan, ranking second among the categories and accounting for 21.7%.

Since this year, the continuous popularity of LABUBU plush toys has been obvious to all. Taking advantage of the situation, Pop Mart not only created new plush toy series such as "High - energy Ahead" around THE MONSTERS but also launched plush toy categories for other IPs. For example, in the second quarter, it launched the CRYBABY Leopard Cat series and the first plush product of Molly, the Baby Molly Pocket Friends series.

LABUBU's popularity spread all over the world, which also contributed to the rapid development of Pop Mart's overseas business to a certain extent.

This financial report for the first time disclosed the performance of four major regions: China, Asia - Pacific (referring to other Asian and Oceanian countries and regions outside China), the Americas, and Europe and other regions. Pop Mart's revenue in China was 8.28 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 135.2%; in the Asia - Pacific region, it was 2.85 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 257.8%; in the Americas, it was 2.26 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 1142.3%; in Europe and other regions, it was 0.48 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 729.2%.

The biggest surprise came from the American market, where the growth rate exceeded ten times, and it is expected to overtake the Asia - Pacific region in terms of revenue soon. Wang Ning revealed that since the second half of last year, the whole of the United States has entered a relatively rapid growth phase. "Even without the popularity of LABUBU in the second quarter, we are very confident in the growth rate of the entire North American market this year."

In order to further promote the growth of overseas business, in April this year, Pop Mart carried out the largest - scale organizational structure adjustment in five years. It set up regional headquarters in the Greater China region, the Americas region, the Asia - Pacific region, and the European region.

With the upgrade of the organizational structure, Wen Deyi, the senior vice - president of Pop Mart Group, also serves as the co - COO of the group, jointly responsible for the management and operation of the group's global business with Si De. Among them, Si De is responsible for the Greater China region and the Americas region; Wen Deyi is responsible for the Asia - Pacific region and the European region.

At the financial report meeting, Wang Ning said that the growth of overseas business has fully proved that Pop Mart can become a world - class consumer product. He also specifically pointed out that it is not LABUBU but the THE MONSTERS series where it belongs that accounts for more than 30%. Other IPs in this series also have great potential and room for operation.

Pop Mart products

After Becoming a Super IP

The popularity of LABUBU has also brought new doubts: How long can this IP remain popular? Does Pop Mart's performance rely on a single IP? Pop Mart is no stranger to such questions.

As early as when the company first emerged, when Molly accounted for up to 90% of its business, Pop Mart often faced such questions.

Wang Ning answered at the financial report meeting: "Every year, people will ask which IPs are popular this year and whether they will last. Will there be new IPs next year? But the fact is that Pop Mart has gone from having one IP at the beginning to having a table (IPs) that is getting fuller and fuller."

In the first half of the year, the revenues of MOLLY, SKULLPANDA, CRYBABY, and DIMOO all exceeded 1 billion yuan; the revenues of 13 major artist IPs exceeded 100 million yuan, and IPs such as Xingxingren and hacipupu also grew rapidly.

Although THE MONSTERS had a revenue of 4.81 billion yuan, becoming the largest IP, its revenue accounted for only 34.7%, which means that Pop Mart's IP development is relatively balanced.

In Wang Ning's view, even if an IP accounts for a particularly large proportion, it doesn't mean it's unhealthy. "Just like if Mickey Mouse accounts for a large proportion of Disney's performance, is it a bad thing? I don't think the proportion is that important to us."

For him, when the outside world is concerned about whether LABUBU can maintain high - speed growth, he is more concerned about the significance of LABUBU becoming a world - class IP.

"This year, maybe everyone is talking about LABUBU and asking if people will still talk about it next year. I believe that today, many of you here may not have talked much about Mickey Mouse, Naruto, Hello Kitty, etc. this year, but these IPs still play a huge commercial value in every corner of the world."

Wang Ning believes that when an IP becomes a world - class IP, its real commercial value has just begun. "Maybe now people can only buy LABUBU's plush toys, but as a super IP, there are many categories that can be explored and many product development directions..."

As he was speaking, Wang Ning took out a new mini LABUBU, a mini - version plush product that Pop Mart was about to launch. There was a burst of cheers at the scene.

"Now people hang LABUBU on their bags. Starting next week, they can even hang it on their phones. There will be more scenarios for it in the future, so we are still full of confidence in the future."