Pop Mart World Cup Collaboration Sparks Another Buying Frenzy, but the Company Faces Record Short Selling Impact

Ask AI · Why Did Bubble Mart’s Earnings Look Impressive Yet Its Stock Price Still Hit a Record High for Short Selling?

Cailian Press, April 7 (Editor Hu Jiarong) Recently, a product under Bubble Mart once again attracted market attention. At the same time, however, the company’s stock price went through a “roller coaster”-style surge and plunge, with a sharp contrast between the capital market and the consumer market.

World Cup Co-branded Edition Sparks Another Buying Frenzy

Recently, Bubble Mart officially launched the THE MONSTERS×FIFA 2026 North America-Mexico World Cup co-branded series. Among them, the LABUBU “Catch the Win” collectible vinyl-look plush doll priced at 599 yuan sold out quickly. According to relevant reports, the day after the product was released, the highest transaction price on the Dewu App reached 718 yuan, a premium of 119 yuan and an increase of nearly 20%.

The report also points out that compared with the performance of related products during the 2022 Qatar World Cup, the premium level in this round has clearly narrowed. At that time, the hidden edition “Rio · Messi” collectible figurine co-branded with the Argentina national team saw its price rise from 69 yuan to 609 yuan, a premium of nearly 8 times. This reflects that the collectible toy (chao wan) market is gradually becoming more rational, and consumers’ acceptance of premiums for IP products has decreased.

Impressive Performance Couldn’t Stop a “Snowfall” in the Stock; Short-Selling Data Hits an All-Time High

However, just as this World Cup co-branded product sparked market enthusiasm, Bubble Mart’s stock price has recently suffered an unprecedented sell-off. On March 25, the company released its 2025 annual report. For the full year, revenue reached 37.12 billion yuan, up 184.7% year over year; net profit was 12.8 billion yuan, up 309% year over year. This seemingly impressive set of results still failed to win over the capital market.

On the day the financial report was released, Bubble Mart’s stock price opened in the afternoon and then plunged in a straight line. It tumbled 22.65% in a single day, setting the largest intraday decline since April 2025. In one day, the market value evaporated by more than 58 billion Hong Kong dollars. Even more surprisingly, this was only the start of the decline. From March 25 to early April, Bubble Mart’s stock price slid from 217.2 Hong Kong dollars on March 24 to 141.8 Hong Kong dollars. Over 8 trading days, it fell 34.7% in total, with the market value shrinking by more than 100 billion Hong Kong dollars.

Notably, behind this crash in the stock price lies astonishing short-selling data. On March 25, the day the financial report was released, Bubble Mart’s short-selling transaction value reached 4.63 billion Hong Kong dollars, setting a historical record since the company’s listing.

In addition, from the sell-side firms’ standings, on March 25 the top five selling parties were Citibank, Hong Kong Stock Connect ( Shanghai ), Standard Chartered Bank, BNP Paribas, and Guotai Junan. On March 26, the following day, the top five selling parties became Merrill Lynch, Hong Kong Shanghai HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Citibank, and Goldman Sachs.

Faced with the continued decline in its stock price, Bubble Mart’s management took proactive measures. Around April 2, the company carried out share repurchases continuously over 6 trading days. It repurchased 9.32 million shares in total, involving nearly 1.4 billion Hong Kong dollars, in an attempt to halt the downward trend in the stock price. However, the market did not buy into it immediately, and the stock price still hovered at relatively low levels, fluctuating.

(Cailian Press, Hu Jiarong)