The performance highlights the growing strength of consumer companies in emerging markets, which are beginning to challenge US peers in both scale and investor interest.
VanEck cross-asset specialist Anna Wu said Pop Mart’s trajectory illustrates the broader case for emerging markets equities, which are playing a bigger role in Australian investment portfolios.
The VanEck Emerging Markets ETF (ASX: EMKT) returned 19.41 per cent in the 12 months to 31 July, outperforming the MSCI Emerging Markets Index by 56 basis points.
Pop Mart International Group Ltd is among the top five holdings of EMKT, with VanEck’s position valued at $7,069,942 as of 20 August 2025, representing 2.39 per cent of the fund’s net assets.
Additionally, according to VanEck’s MSCI Multifactor Emerging Markets Equity ETF 2Q25 update, Pop Mart’s share price was a top performer over the quarter, rallying sharply on its outstanding 2024 results and continued momentum into 2025.
“This performance was fueled by robust demand for their ‘blind box’ collectibles, especially the Labubu series, which captured consumer attention both in China and overseas,” the update stated.
Year-on-year, the collectibles juggernaut saw revenue and net profit increase 204 per cent and 397 per cent, respectively.
“Pop Mart, like its hugely successful Labubu franchise, has shifted into ‘beast mode’ with [its] first half earnings, announcing a whopping threefold increase to sales growth,” Wu said.
Wu noted that Pop Mart’s success was not an overnight phenomenon, rather, comes as a result of its refined “hype creation” formula cultivated for almost a decade.
“...it finally cracked the winning combination of scarcity, fast refresh product development, demand-based scarcity and celebrity capital that turned the Labubu doll into a worldwide sensation.”
In AUD terms, Pop Mart’s valuation surged over 850 per cent since being listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2020, with its market cap now exceeding US$40 billion.
According to Wu, street sentiment on Pop Mart remains bullish. The company’s Labubu range - which has recently ingrained itself into the cultural zeitgeist - accounts for the bulk of its revenue at approximately 35 per cent, however, its other toy brands also carry staunch fanbases, with geographically diverse revenue accounting for 40 per cent of sales overseas.
“Pop Mart’s well-honed product development and distribution process provides a strong foundation for further earnings growth and global expansion, even with US sales potentially facing challenges amid tariff uncertainty,” Wu added.
Pop Mart’s rise reflects the growing momentum of emerging markets equities across regions such as China, Taiwan, South Korea and India, according to Wu.
These markets, which represent more than half of global GDP and 87 per cent of the world’s population, are home to many fast-expanding tech and consumer companies.
“Many of the world’s fast-growing technology and consumer companies are listed on emerging markets exchanges, and these stocks are effectively more resilient against tariffs and other inflationary cost pressures relative to their developed markets counterparts.
“Historically, the performance of emerging markets equities has had an inverse correlation with the strength of the US dollar.
“Should the US dollar continue to weaken, we can expect to hear more of these stock market success stories come out of emerging markets,” Wu concluded.
