On the evening of May 25th, a netizen asked Duan Yongping: "What do you think of Wang Ning? Is he like Steve Jobs, both a timekeeper and a clockmaker?" Duan Yongping responded today: "I think Wang Ning's understanding and pursuit of his products are on the same level as Jobs, at least he will be in the future. Wang Ning's understanding of business seems to be even a bit stronger than Jobs'."
In April of this year, Duan Yongping posted on the Xueqiu platform (ID: The Formless Way) stating, "My Pop Mart insurance company is officially open for business," formally confirming that he had begun investing in Pop Mart. This statement drew significant market attention. "Opening an insurance company" is Duan Yongping's metaphor for building a position by selling put options. He has previously applied this strategy multiple times to targets like Tencent and Apple. In August 2024, when sharing his operation of selling Tencent put options, Duan Yongping explicitly stated it was "just opening another insurance company to earn some premium."
The specific mechanics of this strategy are: if the underlying stock price does not fall below the strike price, the option seller earns the full premium; if the stock price falls below the strike price, the seller is obligated to buy the underlying stock at the agreed strike price.
On April 10, 2026, Duan Yongping commented on his investment in Pop Mart: "Slowly gather funds, otherwise just collect some premium for now." On April 11, he further clarified in response to a netizen's question that he would gradually accumulate "the desired share" in the future.
Duan Yongping's attitude towards Pop Mart has undergone a significant shift, from stating he "would not invest" to now saying, "I am indeed a fan of Wang Ning."
In January of this year, when responding to a netizen's question on Xueqiu, Duan Yongping mentioned he had roughly looked into Pop Mart and thought they were quite impressive. "However, I still can't understand why people need this. What if everyone stops wanting it in a couple of years? If you believe people will always need it and their business will keep growing, then of course it's a decent investment for you."
As early as August 23, 2025, just three days before Pop Mart's stock price was about to hit its all-time high, Duan Yongping had expressed similar caution. At that time, an investor compared Pop Mart to "the Moutai of the new consumer sector" and asked for Duan's opinion on Xueqiu. Duan's reply was restrained and sharp: "Pop Mart's products are indeed very interesting, and the founder is also a very interesting person. It's remarkable what they've achieved today, but I can't see what the company will be like in 10 years."
The turning point came in late March this year when Pop Mart released its 2025 annual report. The company achieved annual revenue of 37.12 billion yuan, surpassing the 30 billion yuan mark for the first time, a surge of 184.71% year-on-year. Net profit attributable to shareholders was 12.776 billion yuan, skyrocketing 308.76% year-on-year. Gross profit margin increased from 66.8% in 2024 to 72.1%.
On March 30, Duan Yongping posted on Xueqiu: "Spent the last couple of days looking at Pop Mart again and decided to retract my statement to Fang Zhang (Fang Sanwen, founder and chairman of Xueqiu) that I wouldn't invest in Pop Mart."
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