Shein’s Hong Kong IPO valuation has been set at between $26 billion and $27 billion (202 billion to 210 billion HK dollars), as the online fashion retailer prepares to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange on 1 September. The pricing represents a sharp retreat from the company’s peak private valuation of more than $100 billion (£73.3 billion), reached after a fundraising round in 2022.
Shein was founded by Sky Yangtian Xu in Nanjing in 2012 and is now headquartered in Singapore, according to Yahoo Finance. From those origins, it grew into one of the world’s largest fast-fashion retailers, known for selling clothes at extremely low prices and shipping orders directly from China to customers around the world.
A float years in the making
Shein has been working towards a stock market listing since 2023. Earlier attempts to list in New York and London both fell apart under political and regulatory scrutiny, making Hong Kong the company’s third attempt at a public debut. The group is said to have initially targeted a $30 billion (£22 billion) valuation for the offering, meaning the final pricing range of $26 billion to $27 billion falls below even that revised ambition, let alone the heights of 2022.
In its listing notice published on Monday, Shein said it will sell 280 million shares at between 47.60 HK dollars (£4.44) and 49.50 HK dollars (£4.62) each. The flotation is expected to raise as much as 14 billion HK dollars (1.8 billion US dollars / £1.3 billion), with an option to sell a further 42 million shares on top of that. Around 90% of the shares will be available to overseas investors. The initial public offering (IPO) is being backed by US banking groups Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan.
Shein Hong Kong IPO valuation set against a backdrop of falling profits
The float comes at a difficult moment financially. Shein reported a net loss of $99 million (£73 million) in the first quarter of 2026, a striking reversal for a company that had previously been highly profitable. According to Yahoo Finance, over the full year 2025 the company’s profit declined 38.7% to $2.06 billion, even as total revenues grew 8% to $41.85 billion. That 8% revenue growth marks a considerable slowdown from the 20.7% growth recorded in 2024.
The US market has been a particular pressure point. Yahoo Finance reports that US revenue fell 14.3% to $2.04 billion in the first quarter of 2026, compared with $2.38 billion in the same period of 2025. The US accounted for 22.5% of Shein’s quarterly revenue in Q1 2026, down from 29.4% of annual revenue in 2023.
Much of that pressure traces back to tariff changes. In May last year, the US removed the so-called “de minimis” exemption, which had previously allowed small packages to be imported duty-free. Shein had relied on the exemption to ship garments directly from China to American customers. The EU has since made the same move, imposing a three euro (£2.56) flat duty on small parcels imported from outside the trading bloc. The UK is also planning to close the small parcels loophole, though not until October 2028. In response, Shein said it is looking at raising prices across the US and Europe to offset the impact on sales.
Competition and changing consumer tastes
Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said the Shein Hong Kong IPO valuation lands at a moment when the company faces pressure from several directions at once, including the removal of the small packages exemption, growing competition from Chinese rival Temu, and shifts in what shoppers want.
‘Consumer tastes are shifting, with younger people becoming more environmentally conscious,’ Coatsworth said. ‘Certain individuals no longer want to buy a cheap dress or top and throw it away after one wear. Instead, there is growing interest in second-hand clothing, hence why the likes of Vinted are thriving and Shein is finding life tough going.’
He added: ‘All this means that Shein is having to work faster and harder, which is not the kind of narrative a company needs when it is trying to win over new investors.’
Shein’s shares are priced and the 1 September listing date is confirmed, meaning investors will have a clear answer very shortly on whether the market accepts the group’s revised valuation, or pushes back further still.
