On the morning of October 26, LAOPU GOLD's price increase arrived as expected, marking the third increase this year. Observations from flagship stores on JD.com and Tmall revealed significant price adjustments across multiple ancient-style gold jewelry pieces, with some popular items seeing price hikes of over 20%. For instance, a golden pendant weighing approximately 14.2 grams surged from 19,100 yuan to 23,850 yuan, an increase of about 25%, translating to a rise from roughly 1,345 yuan per gram to about 1,680 yuan. Another high-selling item, a diamond-studded gold chain weighing 8.0 grams, also saw a price increase—from 12,200 yuan to 14,550 yuan, approximately 19%, with the per gram price climbing from about 1,525 yuan to around 1,819 yuan. Prior to this price adjustment, a new wave of buying frenzy was observed in LAOPU GOLD’s offline stores following the price hike announcement. On October 23, Ms. Xu, a consumer waiting in line at the Guomao store, explained she had traveled by high-speed train to queue for purchases due to online stock shortages. During a visit to the LAOPU GOLD store at Beijing SKP, we observed a significant queue of eager buyers.

01 Multiple Categories of LAOPU GOLD Jewelry See Overnight Increases Exceeding 20% The price increases this time are significantly higher than the previous two rounds. Typically, LAOPU GOLD adjusts prices two to three times a year, and this marks its third major price hike of the year. In February and August, prices for popular items generally rose by 1,000 to 3,000 yuan, with increases ranging from 5% to 13%. In contrast, the current round of price adjustments has seen a considerable expansion in the range of increases. For example, the price of an 18.2-gram gourd diamond pendant rose from 27,130 yuan to 30,530 yuan in August, an increase of 3,400 yuan, or about 12.5%; now it has been adjusted upward to 37,300 yuan, reflecting a rise of 6,770 yuan or approximately 22.2%. The newly launched gourd pendant had previously seen modest price increases. Data from the Tmall flagship store showed that an enamel gourd pendant weighing around 22.39 grams increased in price from 31,400 yuan to 32,980 yuan, a rise of approximately 5%; following the most recent adjustment, the price has further increased to 41,550 yuan, marking a significant 26% hike. However, online stores are currently offering a “buy 1,000 get 100” promotion, roughly equivalent to a 10% discount, yet several popular products, including the gold pearl and plain gold gourd, remain out of stock.

02 New Wave of Buying Frenzy Before Price Adjustment Is the price hike creating a sense of scarcity and urgency to stimulate consumption? Following the official price increase announcement, LAOPU GOLD's offline stores experienced a new wave of buying frenzies. Last week, many plain gold jewelry items sold out completely across multiple offline stores, with various products also being removed from online platforms due to stock shortages. Upon checking the Tmall flagship store, we found that most plain gold jewelry items were unavailable, often seeing restocks that sold out quickly. Although international gold prices dipped on October 23, consumer enthusiasm to purchase before the price hike remained unaffected. On that day, we observed about 40 to 50 customers in line at Beijing SKP, with staff indicating wait times of at least 50 minutes, and numerous plain gold items sold out. The Guomao store similarly experienced queuing, with wait times exceeding half an hour despite the absence of promotional discounts. Ms. Xu, waiting in line, mentioned she had traveled by high-speed train to buy products due to online shortages. Industry insiders noted that the combination of promotional vouchers and the anticipation of price hikes led to a concentrated volume of sales offline for LAOPU GOLD. This year, due to delayed price adjustments, "fixed price" gold products momentarily experienced price inversions compared to the "weight + processing fee" model.

LAOPU GOLD, often referred to as the "Hermès of Gold," highlighted in its interim report that the rapid increases in gold prices recently have slightly impacted the company’s gross profit margin, which stands at approximately 38.1%. Jiang Han, a senior researcher at Pangu Think Tank, previously noted that while the price increases of LAOPU GOLD's main products remain lower than the corresponding surges in raw gold prices, there is room for further price adjustments. "By implementing moderate and controlled price increases, brands create a sense of scarcity and urgency, thereby stimulating consumption and growth in performance," he added. However, he cautioned that if brands rely excessively on price increases while neglecting innovation and quality, consumers might shift to other brands, posing a significant risk.

According to JD.com’s flagship store, LAOPU GOLD's popular jewelry items typically range from 10,000 to 60,000 yuan, with some decorative pieces priced over 800,000 yuan. Based on LAOPU GOLD's fiscal year 2025 mid-term report, the company's revenue in the first half of the year reached 12.354 billion yuan, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 251%; net profit stood at 2.268 billion yuan, up by 285.8%; adjusted net profit hit 2.35 billion yuan, a 291% increase. As of June 30, LAOPU GOLD operated 41 stores, achieving an average sales performance of 459 million yuan per store in the first half of the year. Zhou Ting, director of the Customer Research Institute, believes this round of price increases among jewelry brands indicates that domestic gold brands are adopting pricing strategies similar to luxury brands. However, the current premium level of domestic brands remains within the "mass brand range," showing a clear gap compared to genuine luxury brands.

03 LAOPU GOLD Plans to Use Fundraising for Store Expansion and Inventory Reserve LAOPU GOLD is not the only brand to hike prices. Since October, international gold prices have continuously climbed, lifting spirits in the domestic gold market. Chow Sang Sang completed a partial price adjustment on some “fixed-price” jewelry items by approximately 10% at the end of September, while some of Zhou Da Sheng's fixed-price products increased by 6% to 10%, with an extreme rise of up to 30%; Chow Tai Fook plans to increase prices for fixed gold products by 12% to 18% by the end of October. Industry observers deem this as a concentrated price increase period for gold jewelry, a rare occurrence in the past decade. Many companies attributed the price hikes primarily to the ongoing impact of rising gold prices on costs. Recently, international gold prices have maintained high volatility. On the evening of October 21, spot gold briefly fell below $4,200 per ounce, marking a daily decline of about 3.8%, but the market later stabilized slightly. On October 22, LAOPU GOLD announced that it had signed a placement agreement with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to issue 3.71 million new H shares at a subscription price of 732.49 HKD per share, accounting for approximately 2.66% of the company’s issued H shares. As for the purpose of the fundraising, LAOPU GOLD outlined three areas: 70% will be allocated for inventory reserves, 10% for store expansion and optimization of existing store locations and areas, and 20% for replenishing working capital and general corporate purposes. Since its IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June 2024, LAOPU GOLD's stock price has been on an upward trajectory, experiencing a peak of 1,108 HKD in July, followed by a period of adjustment. As of the morning of October 26, the stock price was at 694 HKD, with a total market capitalization of approximately 119.8 billion HKD.