Pop Mart Shares Slide as Labubu Resale Prices Cool, Scalpers Retreat

Scalpers who once fought over blind boxes are now dumping them. Pop Mart International Group's Hong Kong-listed shares fell as much as 6.2% on Tuesday, landing the toymaker among the weakest performers on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, after reports surfaced that resellers had paused purchases amid a sharp collapse in secondary-market prices for Labubu toys across China.

The numbers on resale platform Qiandao tell the story plainly. Labubu character "Luck," launched in April, peaked above 500 yuan (roughly $70.20) on the secondary market in June. It now trades around 108 yuan. Average prices for full sets of mini Labubus and the Big Into Energy series have both fallen below official Pop Mart retail levels. At the height of the craze, Nomura reported one secret blind box edition changing hands for over 2,000% above retail. Last month, robbers in California staged a $30,000 heist targeting the toys. Now the same scalpers are panic-selling.

"I think the scalpers are releasing inventory because they're afraid that if they stock up too much, they can't sell," said Hao Hong, chief investment officer of Lotus Asset Management.

Pop Mart pushed back on the demand-cooling narrative, telling CNBC that the resale price decline followed a deliberate production ramp-up after widespread complaints about scalpers. The company said it now produces around 30 million plush toys monthly, ten times last year's output. "Our products are made for people who really connect with the art and joy they bring — and we love seeing that passion. Making this art accessible is key for us," the company said in an emailed statement.

The supply-versus-demand debate has direct implications for the stock. The Tuesday drop compounded a broader slide that began in August, with shares now down roughly 44% from those peaks and more than $25 billion in market value erased, according to GuruFocus data. Reuters pegged the decline since August highs at around 25%, a discrepancy likely tied to different reference dates or share classes. Despite the selloff, the stock remained up 186% year-to-date per Reuters, and above 200% by LSEG's count cited by CNBC.

Labubu sits inside Pop Mart's "The Monsters" series, which accounted for more than a third of the company's first-half revenue, fueled in large part by celebrity endorsement from Lisa of Blackpink, Rihanna, and David Beckham. The broader business continued growing through the chaos: revenue surged 250% in the July-to-September quarter, outpacing even the 204.4% growth rate of the first half, per a stock exchange filing.

Morningstar analyst Jeff Zhang framed the resale market as a real-time indicator worth watching. Falling prices could reflect satisfied demand after a summer where it was nearly impossible to buy a Labubu at an official Pop Mart store, he noted, but also the reality that resellers likely made up a significant share of first-market purchases. He also flagged the possibility that investors "may incorporate a higher risk premium for Pop Mart's earnings if revenue growth peaks in this year," and suggested some of Tuesday's pressure came from profit-taking, with rotation out of Chinese new-consumption names also hitting Laopu Gold and Mixue Group on the same session.

Pop Mart is not waiting for the Labubu cycle to resolve itself. The company has been building out its bench of characters: Crybaby held an exhibit in Shanghai this month, and both Twinkle Twinkle and Hirono dolls have been identified internally as the next IPs the company wants to scale. At roughly four times the valuation of Sanrio, according to GuruFocus, Pop Mart carries a multiple that demands the next franchise performs.