Pop Mart, the Chinese toy company, has announced that its profits for the first half of 2025 are expected to rise by at least 350%.
The Beijing-based company, known for the hugely popular Labubu dolls, reported that overall revenues have more than tripled. It attributes this strong growth to rising global brand recognition and effective cost control measures.
Collectors around the world have developed an obsession with Labubu — fantasy elf-like figures with sharp teeth — which sell out instantly, causing long queues and frenzied demand at retail locations worldwide.
Pop Mart is also widely known for selling toys in “blind boxes,” a packaging style that hides the contents until opened. This practice has faced criticism for encouraging gambling-like behavior and compulsive buying.
First introduced in 2019, Labubu dolls played a central role in establishing Pop Mart as a major player in the toy retail market. The company now operates more than 2,000 vending machines and physical stores worldwide. Pop Mart went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2020, and since then, its market value has soared nearly 600% in the past year alone, now exceeding $40 billion (£31.6 billion).
By 2024, international sales accounted for nearly 40% of Pop Mart’s total revenue. In many regions, stores have been forced to suspend Labubu sales due to overwhelming demand.
Labubu has seen explosive growth in the United States, boosted by celebrity endorsements from Kim Kardashian and Lisa of K-pop group Blackpink. Collaborations with major brands such as Coca-Cola and the manga franchise One Piece have further strengthened Labubu’s global profile. In June, U.S. sales of Labubu skyrocketed by 5,000% compared to the same month the previous year, according to market research firm M Science.
“I haven’t seen anything like this from another toy company,” Vinci Zhang, senior analyst at M Science, told the BBC. He noted that Pop Mart has huge potential in the U.S., where it currently runs fewer than 40 stores, compared to about 400 in China. The craze has also fueled a booming resale market, where dolls originally priced around $10 can fetch hundreds of dollars.
In June, a life-sized Labubu was auctioned in Beijing for $150,000.
However, the toy’s massive popularity has also sparked a surge in counterfeits, with knockoffs appearing under the name “Lafufu.” Chinese authorities have stepped up enforcement, seizing more than 46,000 fake Labubu toys in June alone as part of efforts to crack down on the illegal market.
