(Yicai) Jan. 27 -- Shares of Pop Mart rebounded more than 24 percent after five months of continuous decline as the Chinese toy maker released a co-branded smartphone with Honor and a new toy series that went viral.

Pop Mart [HKG: 9992] was trading down 0.5 percent at HKD216.60 (USD27.77) as of 11.30 a.m. today. The stock has advanced 24.2 percent since hitting an intraday low of HKD174.30 on Jan. 19, after plunging nearly 49 percent since its peak of HKD339.80 on Aug. 26.

Pop Mart and Honor jointly launched the Honor 500 Pro Molly 20th Anniversary Edition on Jan. 19. Priced at CNY4,499 (USD650), the smartphone officially hit the market on Jan. 25.

"Pop Mart's recent stock price rebound is partly related to the success of its new 'electronic wooden fish' toy series, but the most important reason is likely the release of the co-branded phone with Honor," Zhang Shule, a game industry analyst, told Yicai. "Moving from wearables and decorative items to more practical daily essential tools, Pop Mart has brought more imagination space to the capital market."

On Jan. 15, Pop Mart released Pucky Tap Tap, a new series of plushy pendants that emit the sound of wooden fish when tapped on their head. Wooden fish are hollow wooden percussion instruments shaped as fish that produce sound when struck. They are used in Buddhist and Taoist religious rituals and as folk musical instruments.

Pucky Tap Tap became immediately popular, with offline stores already out of stock. On second-hand platforms, the selling price of a single blind box of Pucky Tap Tap has risen to between CNY134 and CNY396 (USD19 and USD57) from the official price of CNY99 (USD14), with the premium for the secret edition exceeding 300 percent.

"A lot of consumers came to buy Pucky Tap Tap toys recently, and those who can't get them often check out and interact with the displayed products in the store," a clerk at a Pop Mart store in Shanghai told Yicai, adding that there is no word yet on when the store will restock.

Pucky is one of Pop Mart's classic intellectual properties. The first popular Pucky toy series was released in 2018. The Pucky Roly-Poly Kitty series of vinyl plush blind box toys grew in popularity in 2024. The latest Pucky Tap Tap series has set off a proper craze.

"The viral success of Pop Mart's new 'electronic wooden fish' products lies in the fact that it has become a popular emotional stress relief product among young people," a consumption industry analyst said.

"This not only demonstrates Pop Mart's ability to create new blockbuster toys and revitalize classic IPs, but also strengthens the market's confidence in the company's multi-IP operation and ability to grasp consumer emotions," the analyst noted. "All these factors have become important catalysts for Pop Mart's stock price rebound."

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione