China’s Pop Mart to buy back shares worth up to US$740m as collectible-toy demand cools

Decline in firm’s sales growth will be ‘difficult to reverse’ without a new product format or powerful celebrity endorsement, analyst says

Chinese toymaker Pop Mart International will launch a share buy-back plan worth up to 5 billion yuan (US$740 million) over the next six months, it said after the market closed on Thursday.

The buy-back of between 2 billion yuan and 5 billion yuan comes amid softer domestic sales and normalising demand following last year’s strong performance, which was fuelled by blockbuster toy character Labubu.

Wang Ning, founder and CEO of the Hong Kong‑listed firm, announced the plan on Pop Mart’s interim‑results earnings call, where he also sounded a note of caution about the outlook.

“We had earlier guided for 20 per cent revenue growth for 2026,” Wang said. “The high base from last year’s outstanding performance has created pressure for this year, which will be more pronounced in the second half.”

The company considered 2026 as a year of operational readjustment, he added.

“Driving sales is not the top priority, and corporate governance is showing positive momentum,” Wang said.

Pop Mart posted first-half revenue of 17.17 billion yuan, up 23.8 per cent year on year, while its net profit rose 10.14 per cent to 5.04 billion yuan, according to its earnings report filed with the Hong Kong stock exchange.