Is Laopu Gold's Rally Over? 6 Charts on Recent Performance — Charts of the Week
After a 36%+ correction, let's examine the fundamentals: sales growth, recent price hikes, and consumer sentiment on social media.
“Charts of the Week” is Baiguan’s series that features key data points to help you quickly grasp the general state of affairs in China in just a few minutes. We handpick the highlights of the data charts from a variety of sources, analyzing and delivering insights trusted by 100+ top institutional and corporate clients worldwide at BigOne Lab.
In the past, this series primarily covered broad macro trends. Now, we’d like to use the same format to give you quick updates on specific companies or industries we’ve discussed before. Let us know in the comments if you find this useful — your feedback will help us decide whether to continue this format.
Back in June this year, I wrote about Laopu Gold (HKG: 6181), a rapidly rising brand in China’s luxury market with the potential to become a homegrown luxury giant. In that article, I explained how Laopu’s unique position in traditional Chinese craftsmanship and its connection to cultural heritage have helped it resonate with younger Chinese consumers.
The stock has corrected by more than 36% since its peak in July. After an meteoric rise of over 800% since its IPO in June 2024, it’s a good time to review whether the company’s actual sales and broader consumer sentiment in China justify its current valuation or if we’re entering speculative territory. In today’s newsletter, I’ve selected 6 charts that are key to understanding this question:
The tailwind: the broader luxury industry is seeing signs of bottoming out in Q3 China
Most luxury brands showed an improving or accelerating year-over-year growth in Q3 2025, possibly boosted by the improved sentiment among middle-class and wealthier households as China’s equity market delivers upbeat returns YTD.
But not every jewelry brand enjoyed the same growth
Laopu continued to take market share from international fashion houses, largely boosted by the gold rally since 2024.
But the gold price isn’t the sole determining factor
Although the gold price rally should benefit overall gold jewelry makers, not every leading brand in China experienced the same explosive growth in online discussions compared to Laopu Gold.
Behind the paywall:
Chart 4: Analysis of selling points: the most frequent social media buzzwords for Laopu Gold compared to peers (Chow Tai Fook, etc.)
Chart 5: A breakdown of Laopu’s online vs. offline sales performance through October.
Chart 6: Price Sensitivity: How did the October price hike impact sales volume? We compare the recent “rush to buy” effect against three historical price increases.