The Chinese retailer Pop Mart’s stock surged more than 12 percent on Wednesday, to the highest level since the company went public in 2020, after its chief executive, Wang Ning, said a mini version of its wildly popular Labubu dolls would be released as soon as this week.
The toothy elves have become coveted accessories around the world, spotted dangling off designer handbags worth thousands of dollars and collected by the likes of Rihanna, Dua Lipa and Lisa, a member of the K-pop group Blackpink.
The mini version will be able to be hung on mobile phones, Mr. Wang told investors on an earnings call. Previous new releases have sold out within minutes, crashed the company’s website and app, and sparked hourslong lines outside of stores.
Most of Pop Mart’s revenue comes from China. But during the first six months of this year, revenue from the Americas jumped 1,142 percent from the previous year as Labubu enthusiasm took off around the world, the company reported on Tuesday. Sales in Asia outside of China were up 258 percent and from Europe and other regions, 729 percent.
The global craze for Labubus drove record revenue for Pop Mart during the first six months of the year, up more than 200 percent when measured in Chinese renminbi. Labubus accounted for more than a third of Pop Mart’s total revenue over this period.
Pop Mart’s stock, which is traded in Hong Kong, has risen more than 650 percent over the past year.
In China, the dolls have been praised as an example of how a local product can go viral worldwide. People’s Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, described the phenomenon as “a benchmark for China’s pop culture making inroads overseas.”
Onstage in London over the weekend, Lisa, who told Vanity Fair that Pop Mart toys were her “secret obsession,” wore a custom hot pink Labubu during Blackpink’s Deadline Tour.
The doll’s popularity has spawned a thriving resale market and a universe of knock offs, known as “Lafufus,” that are almost as sought after as the real things. Consumer protection agencies in the United States and Britain recently issued urgent safety warnings that said the fakes could break into pieces and presented choking hazards to children.
Pop Mart has also popularized another Chinese trend by releasing some Labubus in “blind boxes,” so that buyers don’t know which doll is inside.
The company said it plans to open about three new stores per week for the rest of the year, and expects to top 60 stores in the United States.
Meaghan Tobin covers business and tech stories in Asia with a focus on China and is based in Taipei.
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