Pop Mart is poppin’.
The Chinese toy purveyor, famous for selling the highly popular Labubu monsters, made an impressive amount of cash in the first six months of the year as it expanded into more lucrative overseas markets.
Revenue increased 204 percent year-on-year to 13.88 billion yuan (approximately $1.93 billion) in the first half of 2025, according to an earnings statement cited by Bloomberg. “The Monsters” characters, including Labubu, raked in 4.81 billion yuan ($669.88 million) during that period, accounting for 34.7 percent of total revenue, as reported by Reuters. Net income also jumped 397 percent to 4.57 billion yuan (about $636 million).
The Beijing-based company is capitalizing on the widespread Labubu infatuation, moving into higher-margin Western markets at impressive speed. Pop Mart founder and CEO Wang Ning told Chinese media in July that the company’s overseas growth has been much faster than anticipated. He expects foreign sales to eclipse domestic sales in 2025 and North America to outperform Southeast Asia. That is welcome news, given Pop Mart’s toys are generally priced higher in international markets and therefore generate more revenue.
A guest of Copenhagen Fashion Week in August carries an orange Miu Miu bag adorned with a cream Labubu.
Edward Berthelot/Getty
Hong Kong-based artist Kasing Lung created Labubu in 2015, but it wasn’t until the plush toy monster became part of Pop Mart’s blind box lineup in 2018 that it gained popularity. It has since become a viral sensation, with celebrities including Lisa, Rihanna, David Beckham, and Marc Jacobs fueling the worldwide craze. Labubus have also become a must-have accessory among wealthy collectors, with the current trend to have one (or many) dangling from a Hermès Birkin or other designer bag. Another flex is to dress your Labubu in designer jewelry. “I noticed that a Van Cleef Alhambra bracelet is the perfect necklace for a Labubu,” Jake, a 25-year-old creator known on Instagram as @whatsjakin, previously told Robb Report.
Ning said sales of Labubu will surpass 10 million units per day from September this year. Pop Mart has committed to increasing supplies, as the toy often sells out in stores around the world. Pop Mart now has 571 stores—40 of which it opened in the first half of this year—along with 2,597 automated robot shops across 18 countries and regions. It plans to open around 100 more outlets outside China in 2025.
Shares in Pop Mart have risen more than 200 percent in the last year, resulting in a market valuation of $38 billion and making the company worth more than Barbie-maker Mattel, Nerf-seller Hasbro, and Hello Kitty-owner Sanrio combined. Poppin’, indeed.
