The cryptocurrency market has been stagnant for a long time, with low profit effects and daily explosions, and this generation of young people has become impatient and started to play with other things. According to media reports, on April 25, LABUBU (also known as La Bu Bu) 3.0 series officially launched offline sales, and a certain Pop Mart store in Guangzhou saw long queues. "The new product's original price is 99 yuan per box, but I paid 130 yuan on a second-hand website. If you want to buy a full set (six boxes), it's more expensive, over a thousand yuan (original price 594 yuan)," said Little Ning.
It's not just the latest models that are popular; some hot series released by LABUBU previously have seen prices double in the second-hand market, and tripling is not uncommon, especially for some 'hidden models' and brand co-branded models with low chances of being drawn. For example, the LABUBU and Vans co-branded model released last year, which was priced at 599 yuan, has now skyrocketed to 14,839 yuan in the second-hand market.
It's hard to describe in words why a small toy can make so many consumers obsessed. But it is this series of IPs, including LABUBU in THE MONSTERS series, that created over 3 billion yuan in revenue for Pop Mart last year, helping it ascend to the throne of the trendy toy leader.
On the evening of April 22, Pop Mart released its latest quarterly report. The announcement shows that the company's overall revenue increased by 165% to 170% year-on-year, with revenue from the Chinese market growing by 95% to 100% year-on-year, while the overseas market experienced explosive growth, increasing by 475% to 480%, becoming the absolute main force of performance growth.
As of the close on April 25, Pop Mart (HK09992) closed at 172.3 HKD per share, nearly doubling since the beginning of the year, with a total market value reaching 231.4 billion HKD.
LABUBU 3.0 sold out immediately upon release.
According to media reports, "I didn't grab the presale online before, so today (26th) I temporarily bought a pickup code at a markup on a second-hand website." Little Ning, who was queuing at the store, just got into LABUBU. According to her introduction to reporters, although the 25th was the offline release day for the LABUBU 3.0 series, only those who grabbed the purchasing qualification online on the 24th could pick up their items in-store. "The new product's original price is 99 yuan per box, but I paid 130 yuan on a second-hand website. If you want to buy a full set (six boxes), it costs over a thousand yuan (original price 594 yuan)," said Little Ning.
On April 25, the reporter accessed the queuing purchase channel through Pop Mart's official mini program, and the system page showed that the currently sold 3.0 series new products are already preselling with shipments on June 15, and it is not guaranteed that one can even queue up. In this situation, more consumers have flocked to second-hand trading websites where stock is sufficient.
Image source: Pop Mart official mini program
Although LABUBU 3.0 has just been released for one day, the reporter's search found that there are already many 'brand new transfers' available on various second-hand platforms and social media, with second-hand prices higher than the original price by dozens to a hundred yuan.
It's not just the latest models that are popular; some hot series released by LABUBU previously have seen prices double in the second-hand market, and tripling is not uncommon, especially for some 'hidden models' and brand co-branded models with low chances of being drawn. For example, the LABUBU and Vans co-branded model released last year, which was priced at 599 yuan, has now skyrocketed to 14,839 yuan in the second-hand market.
Image source: Screenshot from Dewu
"The more times you go to the store, the more you know who the scalpers are." Cocoa, a dedicated LABUBU enthusiast living in Guangzhou, told reporters that many times when he went to different stores looking for rare items, he could always see a 'chubby uncle' shopping just like him. Unlike fans like Cocoa, the uncle would sell the items directly outside the store after buying them.
"There are many scalpers specifically targeting LABUBU, and the situation is very complicated. Some are professional scalpers who monitor inventory through software, hire people to queue for pickup, and then sell the products domestically and abroad. Those who sell next to the store to casual customers are small scalpers," Cocoa said.
Pop Mart's Q1 overseas market surged.
On the evening of April 22, Pop Mart released its latest quarterly report. The announcement shows that the company's overall revenue increased by 165% to 170% year-on-year, with revenue from the Chinese market growing by 95% to 100% year-on-year, while the overseas market experienced explosive growth, increasing by 475% to 480%, becoming the absolute main force of performance growth.
On the 28th, Hong Kong stock Pop Mart (HK09992, stock price: 191.5 HKD; total market value: 257.2 billion HKD) rose over 11%, reaching a historic high. Notably, Pop Mart's stock price soared by 346.66% throughout 2024, and this year the stock price has risen again by 100%.
Public data shows that on April 25, the official app of Pop Mart topped the US App Store shopping list. This is also the first time the official app has reached the top of the shopping list, and the Pop Mart app surged 114 spots in one day, becoming the fourth in the overall free list.
According to reports from the Securities Times citing media, American consumers queued overnight at the Pop Mart store on Michigan Avenue in Chicago for the release of the new LABUBU model, with the overseas rush comparable to the launch of the iPhone.
It is reported that Pop Mart's popular IP blind box LABUBU recently launched the third generation of rubber plush products 'High Energy Ahead' series globally, and long queues formed outside Pop Mart stores overseas overnight. The Pop Mart app has recently also topped the US App Store shopping list.
Image source: Daily Economic News, data image
The topping of Pop Mart's official app is related to the new products that Pop Mart has recently launched. On April 24, Pop Mart's IP LABUBU launched the third generation of rubber plush products 'High Energy Ahead' series globally. That night, 'Grab LABUBU' quickly topped the Weibo hot search. It is understood that long queues also appeared at Pop Mart's offline stores overseas, such as in Los Angeles, London, and Harajuku, Japan.
"We see the possibility of LABUBU becoming a global super IP," said Sid, co-COO of Pop Mart International Group, in a media interview. In 2024, the IP THE MONSTERS, which includes LABUBU, achieved revenue of 3.04 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 726.6%, becoming the highest revenue IP under Pop Mart. Over the past year, Pop Mart has continuously created several plush products using rubber technology, such as the LABUBU Heart Macaron series and the Sit Party series, helping the plush category achieve over 1200% growth.
Specifically, the performance of the Chinese business is stable, with online channels performing particularly well: offline channel revenue grew by 85% to 90%, while online channels grew by 140% to 145%. In terms of the overseas market, by region, the Americas market surged by 895% to 900% year-on-year, the European market grew by 600% to 605%, and the Asia-Pacific region (excluding China) grew by 345% to 350%. Notably, Pop Mart's stock price soared by 346.66% throughout 2024, and this year the stock price has increased by another 100.89%.
Shenwan Hongyuan believes that the core of Pop Mart's high growth in the overseas market is the female-oriented trendy toy blue ocean market (previously, trendy toys and shoes mainly targeted males), relying on the universality of image IP + exquisite high-quality figurines + successful local operations. The high growth in Europe and America verifies the strong momentum of IP, continuously realizing the vast market space in Europe and America. According to statistics, Pop Mart has opened 147 retail stores outside mainland China, with 37 in the US, an increase of 11 since the beginning of the year.
Dongxing Securities believes that the diverse IP matrix + IP exploration and operation capabilities + the widest online and offline channels in the industry have allowed Pop Mart to establish a competitive advantage far exceeding its peers. The company is gradually building an IP ecosystem framework that includes derivatives, amusement parks, and games, further strengthening its IP operation capabilities. The overseas business is still in a period of explosive growth, and the expansion in high-consumption areas like Europe and America is smooth, with overseas business continuing to grow rapidly; the expansion of categories and the incubation of multiple business formats open up domestic growth space.
In terms of Pop Mart's future outlook, Nomura Securities published a research report stating that Pop Mart has a sound IP ecosystem, and as the variety of products expands, it will bring visibility for rapid sales growth. In addition to frequently launching new products, the company is also continuously collaborating with well-known third-party IPs to successfully expand its customer base, and its global layout is also enhancing brand awareness.
Citigroup believes that Pop Mart's first-quarter revenue performance was strong, far exceeding the guidance of over double growth, mainly due to last year's low base and the good sales performance of new product series like Nezha and Crybaby, driving the Chinese market to grow by double and the overseas market to grow by about 4.8 times. Looking ahead to the second quarter, Citigroup expects Pop Mart to accelerate supply chain diversification and may raise product sales prices in response to potential impacts from increased tariffs in the US market, possibly prioritizing business expansion in other markets. The third generation of LABUBU new product series will be launched online and offline soon, and the bank expects the new product launch to become a short-term catalyst for Pop Mart.
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