Labubu May Have Peaked for Now, But Pop Mart Is Here to Stay

LONDON — Global interest in Labubu is cooling, but that might be good news for its maker, the Hong Kong-listed Pop Mart.

According to Google Trends, searches in the fluffy figurine with a grin of spiky teeth peaked in the week of July 13 to 19, and has since seen a gradual decline. That said, the volume of searches for Labubu on Google at the end of August was still 12 times higher than a year prior.

Thanks to endless celebrity endorsements — most recently Naomi Osaka’s U.S. Open run, and Lady Gaga and Lisa’s custom Labubu by Brett Alan Nelson — and more than 2.8 million user-generated contents on TikTok, Labubu has dominated the conversation in 2025.

Some call it a perfect match with the world of luxury, while some dismiss it as a symbol of brain rot and equate collecting Labubu to borderline gambling addiction due to the main range being sold in the form of a blind box, meaning the customer receives a random product from a themed series. There is a small chance that one might get a highly regarded secret version.

Investors, in the meantime, are hailing Pop Mart, the company behind the global success of Labubu, as an economic slowdown-defying wonder.

The share price of Pop Mart more than tripled year-over-year to 320 Hong Kong dollars at the end of August.

Goldman Sachs last month lifted its target price to 350 Hong Kong dollars per share as Pop Mart’s revenue jumped 204.4 percent to $1.95 billion, and net profit surged 385.6 percent to $659 million in the first half of 2025. The shares have since slipped back to close at 276.80 on Friday. The latest “Pin for Love” Series featuring mini Labubus did not spark the same level of hype as anticipated.

The lion’s share of the growth came from the U.S. and Europe, up 1,142.3 percent and 729.2 percent, respectively, in the period.

Its Asia-Pacific business, which includes Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, grew 257.8 percent year-over-year, while its core mainland China operation also logged a substantial 135.2 percent increase.

Pop Mart kick-started its global expansion following a 676 million listing in Hong Kong in 2020. As of June 30, Pop Mart operated 571 stores and 2,597 roboshops in 18 countries globally.

Retail expansion in these regions has been steady in 2025.

Pop Mart in early August unveiled its largest store yet, an expansive two-floor unit clocking in at 8,200 square feet that includes a café, in Bangkok’s Iconsiam luxury mall. The retailer also entered Germany in July by opening its first store in the Alexa shopping center in Berlin. Both openings made local news headlines as thousands queued for hours in a bid to get regional exclusives and rare Labubu drops.

The Chinese company also snapped up a prime location on London’s Oxford Street in July for $86 million. Previously occupied by Matalan, the mixed-use building with 19,000 square feet of retail space is believed to be the home of Pop Mart’s new U.K. flagship.

Online channels are flourishing as well. According to data from Charm.io, Pop Mart’s sales on TikTok Shop U.S. saw a 1,828 percent increase from June 2024 to June 2025. Revenue growth had notable surges from October 2024 onward, with the most significant jumps in April and May 2025. By April 2025, Pop Mart accounted for 0.55 percent of all TikTok Shop U.S. sales.

During an earnings call, Pop Mart founder Wang Ning said the company is on track to meet its targeted 2025 revenue goal of 20 billion yuan, or $2.78 billion, and that 30 billion yuan, or $4.18 billion, this year “should also be quite easy.”

He added that sales from North America and Asia-Pacific this year would together equal China sales in 2024, and Pop Mart will begin a phase of “relatively rapid store openings” in the near future, with 10 more U.S. shops expected to open by the end of this year. Pop Mart currently has around 40 locations in the U.S.

Wang also disclosed that the company is exploring expansion in emerging markets in the Middle East, Central Europe, and Central and South America.

Another key indicator of Pop Mart’s longevity is a growing roster of popular artist IPs beyond Labubu.

First designed in 2015 by artist Kasing Lung, Labubu is part of the Monsters series, which also includes characters Zimomo, Spooky, Tycoco and Pato. Lung signed a licensing agreement with Pop Mart in 2019.

In the first half of 2025, The Monsters range raked in 4.81 billion renminbi, or $673 million, up 668 percent year-over-year, representing 34.7 percent of total revenue.

The big jump can be largely attributed to the release of the vinyl plush “Big Into Energy” series, as well as the “Wacky Mart” blind box figure toys range.

In a sit-down interview with China’s state-owned CCTV, Wang said the company sells around 10 million Labubu per month, adding that “Our sewing machines are running hot, and we’ve been ramping up production every month.”

He also revealed that renowned film studios worldwide, including many Hollywood companies, have approached Pop Mart about coproducing Labubu films.

Fashion and luxury brands are eager to collaborate with Labubu, too. But industry sources claimed that Pop Mart is keen to protect the IP’s long-term value, and is only looking to work with top-level brands in the luxury space.

So far, the only brands that have collaborated with Labubu via Pop Mart include Vans for a big plush doll, Chinese emerging designer brand Pronounce for a runway capsule and three plush dolls, Sacai for a limited run of 14 dolls in collaboration with K-pop group Seventeen, sold at a Joopiter auction, and, most recently, Uniqlo for a range of T-shirts and sweatshirts featuring Lung’s artwork.

At Lung’s own capacity, the LVMH-owned Moynat on Tuesday unveiled a collaboration featuring his artworks depicting Labubu, Zimomo, and King Mon to appear on handbags and small leather goods, including two-dimensional bag charms.

Pop Mart, according to sources, is instead encouraging brands to work with other popular IPs such as Molly, Skullpanda, Crybabay, and Dimoo under its umbrella, a move aimed at ensuring balanced development across its portfolio for long-term gain.

While these IPs are nowhere near the global popularity Labubu is enjoying at the moment, they have each cultivated their very own identity and niche, dedicated followings, just as Labubu has done so with the affluent, Birkin-collecting Tai-tais across South East Asia before it evolved into a global phenomenon.

All of these IPs generated over 100 million renminbi, or $14 million, each in revenue in the first half of 2025 for Pop Mart.

Swiss jeweler and watchmaker Chopard, for instance, teamed up with Dimoo, a starry-eyed character imagined by Chinese artist Ayan Deng, to release two China-exclusive limited-edition figurines sporting the brand’s Ice Cube designs for Qixi, considered China’s Valentine’s Day.

The Richemont-owned Cartier, meanwhile, has worked with Crybaby’s creator, Thai artist Nisa Srikamdee, to launch an exclusive set of stickers for the messaging app Line to celebrate the opening of Cartier’s new flagship at Siam Paragon in Bangkok.

At the same time, Pop Mart is doubling down on new IP incubation.

Twinkle Twinkle, created by the Chinese artist Da Xin and signed by Pop Mart a year ago, is one of the retailer’s emerging IPs with the most rapid growth, the company said.

The company this year also signed on KeyA, a futuristic, mechanical, and cool girl IP by the 20-year-old Chinese artist Chen Yanran. The first rendition of KeyA was teased at the 2025 Pop Mart Pop Toy Show held in Beijing at the beginning of August.

Category expansion should also help Pop Mart diversify its revenue stream.

For the first time, plush products outperformed figure toys in the first half of 2025, achieving a revenue of 6.13 billion renminbi, or $823 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 1,276.2 percent and accounting for 44.2 percent of total revenue.

In June, it also expanded into jewelry with a stand-alone retail concept, Popop, which opened its first stores in Shanghai and Beijing in June.