From Labubu to Ne Zha: toy craze fans Pop Mart's market-beating stock rally
Pop Mart's Ne Zha toys sold out days after their release on January 30 as the animation broke local box-office records, according state-run China Movie Database on Thursday. The sequel also overtook The Battle at Lake Changjin in all-time ticket sales following its stellar Lunar New Year holiday run. The frenzy is a repeat of Pop Mart's success in capitalising on its Labubu toys, a toothy but adorable elfin beloved by millions of Asian fans, including a member of K-pop group Blackpink. The formula helped propel its sales outside mainland China and fan a 350 per cent rally in its stock in Hong Kong last year.
'We expect Pop Mart to become one of the go-to partners for global major IP owners that intend to monetise and extend IP popularity through IP toys,' Morgan Stanley analysts including Dustin Wei and Carol Xia said in a report. Its success underlines its influence in the IP strategy, they added. A Ne Zha movie poster outside a cinema in Hangzhou.
Third-party IPs like Ne Zha only counted for 15 to 20 per cent of Pop Mart's revenue, but they helped the brand gain new customers effectively, the analysts said.
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A woman posing with Labubu and Mokoko characters in an exhibition hall as they visit Pop Mart's theme park Pop Land in Beijing. (Photo by Pedro PARDO / AFP)
