China’s bubble tea giant, Mixue, just went public

With more than 45,000 locations, Mixue, officially Mixue Ice Cream & Tea, claims to have more outlets than any other chain in the world, having surpassed the 43,477 that McDonald’s reported having at the end of 2024.

By franchising almost all of its stores, Mixue’s business model is closer to McDonald’s than Starbucks’ — but, unlike traditional franchisers, which tend to lean on franchise fees or real estate revenue, only 2.4% of Mixue’s income comes from those fees. Instead, substantially all of Mixue’s revenue comes from selling everything from tea to ice cream makers to its franchisees, per its annual report, with more than 60% of its ingredients produced in-house.

With that kind of growth, it’s no surprise that the company’s public markets debut was hotly anticipated, with CNBC reporting that the domestic Hong Kong offering was 5,200 times oversubscribed, with shares rising 43% in their first day of trading on Monday.

Of course, that enthusiasm might not last forever, a lesson that Mixue’s rivals have learned. Nayuki, one of the first Chinese tea chains to go public in 2021, has already seen its stock plunge 90% since its IPO. Guming, the second-largest tea chain, went public in mid-February and saw its shares tumble on day 1 — though they’ve since climbed ~20%, partly lifted by Mixue’s market buzz.

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