Labubu dolls at risk of Beanie Baby-like bubble bust: analyst

The euphoria surrounding Labubu toys is starting to resemble the boom-and-bust cycle that ended in the collapse of Beanie Babies in the 1990s, a warning sign for investors, a bearish analyst says.

The hype over the sharp-fanged monster dolls is about to peak, and doubts about the next sales driver for owner Pop Mart International Group Ltd. suggest its shares have limited upside, said Melinda Hu, a senior research analyst for Asia consumer stocks at Bernstein in Hong Kong.

“The scarcity, the hunt, the dopamine hit and the secondary market” fueling Labubu’s popularity resembles the speculative cycle of Beanie Babies, said Hu, who’s the only analyst to currently have a sell rating on Pop Mart. “I wouldn’t advise long-term investors to add the shares without fundamental changes” in the comp