Hong Kong-listed new-style tea beverage company reports impressive performance; Mixue Group's net profit approaches 6 billion yuan

Securities Times reporter Wang Jun

In 2025, under the combined effects of competition for market share amid industry inventory and consumer upgrading, the new-style tea beverage industry turned in a standout set of annual results.

Recently, Hong Kong-listed companies such as Mixue Group, Shanghai Auntie, and Guming have successively released their 2025 annual reports, while Chatime also issued a 2025 earnings forecast. Multiple companies achieved growth in both revenue and net profit. Mixue Group’s revenue exceeded 33 billion yuan, with attributable net profit close to 6 billion yuan, making it the most profitable new-style tea beverage company.

In 2025, the new tea beverage segment saw a dense wave of listings, with Guming, Mixue Group, Shanghai Auntie, and others landing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Previously, Nayuki and Chatime had been listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2021 and 2024, respectively. Against the backdrop of slowing industry growth and increasing differentiation among leaders, how can new-style tea beverages achieve high-quality growth?

Double growth in revenue and net profit

On March 25, the new tea beverage brand Guming released its 2025 annual performance report: total annual revenue of about 12.914 billion yuan, up 46.9% year over year; net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company of 3.109 billion yuan, up 110.3% year over year.

Prior to that, Mixue Group and Shanghai Auntie also released their 2025 performance reports, with revenue and net profit similarly seeing sharp increases. Mixue Group’s annual report shows that in 2025, the company achieved revenue of 33.56 billion yuan, up 35.2% year over year; attributable net profit was 5.887 billion yuan, up 32.7% year over year. Shanghai Auntie achieved operating revenue of 4.466 billion yuan in 2025, up 36.0% year over year; attributable net profit was 501 million yuan, up 52.4% year over year.

In the context of increasingly fierce competition in the ready-to-drink tea segment, leading brands are continuing to develop with strong growth momentum. Mixue Group mentioned in its annual report that its performance growth was mainly attributable to increased revenue generated from the sales of goods and equipment, followed by increased revenue generated from franchising and related services. According to data, in 2025, revenue from the sales of goods and equipment was 32.766 billion yuan, up 35.3% year over year; revenue from franchising and related services was 794 million yuan, up 28.0% year over year. “The above increases are mainly attributable to the expansion of the company’s store network.” Mixue Group said in its financial report. According to data, as of December 31, 2025, the company had built a store network of about 60,000 outlets globally.

Shanghai Auntie has three brands under it: Shanghai Auntie, Tea Falls, and Hu Cafe. As of December 31, 2025, the company had a total of 11,449 stores, up 24.8% from 9,176 stores as of December 31, 2024. Shanghai Auntie said that while accelerating expansion, the company follows a “take and withdraw” principle, proactively closing certain stores with poor operations or expiring leases, and improving the brand’s overall service levels and store profitability through optimized layout.

Chatime, meanwhile, issued an earnings forecast earlier: for 2025, adjusted net profit is expected to be between 792 million yuan and 852 million yuan, up 22.79% to 32.09%. The company believes that the growth in adjusted net profit is mainly benefited from the continued improvement in the company’s core operating performance.

Accelerating channel deepening

Judging from the operating strategies of the above new-style tea beverage companies, channel deepening has become the key to rapid brand dissemination and market penetration.

Mixue Group’s annual report shows that by the end of 2025, the company had a total number of stores in mainland China exceeding 55,300, with nearly 42,700 located in second-tier, third-tier, and lower cities, accounting for more than 77%. Compared with 2024, in 2025 the company added nearly 13,800 stores, including 11,200 in second-tier, third-tier, and lower cities. Mixue Group said that its store network in mainland China is spread across 31 provinces, more than 300 prefecture-level cities, and covers all tiers of cities. “The breadth and depth of our store network sets the company apart from other ready-to-drink beverage brands in mainland China.” Mixue Group said in its financial report.

Shanghai Auntie’s stores are also mainly concentrated in second-tier, third-tier, and lower cities. By the end of 2025, the number of stores in second-tier, third-tier, and lower cities reached 8,357, accounting for 73%; compared with the end of 2024, the total store count at the end of 2025 increased by 2,273, including an increase of 1,764 stores in second-tier, third-tier, and lower cities.

According to a survey by Zhiyan Consulting, the market for ready-to-drink tea shops in China’s third-tier and lower cities, measured by gross merchandise transaction volume, is the largest and expected fastest-growing sub-segment during 2023 to 2028, with huge growth potential in the future.

An analyst at iiMedia Consulting believes that consumption upgrading trends are obvious in second-tier and third-tier cities, and operating costs are lower, making them a core area that new-style tea beverage companies are competing to expand into and an important engine driving industry growth.

How to break through further?

It should be noted that the new-style tea beverage industry has moved beyond the initial stage of rapid expansion and the “race to secure territory” for market share, and has transitioned to a new phase of inventory competition that emphasizes refined operations.

According to iiMedia Research, in 2024 the size of China’s new-style tea beverage market reached 354.72 billion yuan. The market space is gradually becoming saturated. As brands within the industry enter the inventory competition stage, it is expected that in the coming years the market size of China’s new-style tea beverage industry will maintain modest but stable growth, and by 2028 it could exceed 40 billion yuan.

Against this backdrop, how to achieve high-quality growth has become a new challenge the industry urgently needs to solve. Mixue Group mentioned in its annual report that, in the face of a constantly changing market environment and potential challenges, the company will adhere to the value proposition of “high quality, affordable prices,” and will continue to expand its store network in China to consolidate its leading position in the ready-to-drink beverages industry in China. At the same time, it will continue to deepen its efforts in the Southeast Asian market, appropriately open up other markets, and build a world-class global food and beverage brand.

Shanghai Auntie said that the company will advance its store expansion strategy in a phased and orderly manner, continuously improving profitability and investment return efficiency for individual stores. At the same time, it will closely track consumption trends and industry developments, accelerate the pace of building out its coffee category, and innovate consumption scenarios and sales models to activate diversified consumer demand. In addition, the company will continue to deepen its multi-brand strategy, strengthen cooperation with high-quality suppliers at home and abroad, increase investment in information technology and digitalization, and ensure overall operations are efficient and compliant.

An analyst at iiMedia Consulting believes that the new-style tea beverage industry is transforming from “scale expansion” to “value upgrading.” Health and personalization have become the core consumer demands, and companies need to respond to consumers’ needs for health and quality through product innovation, forming a precise matching logic of “demand-driven product iteration.” Meanwhile, going overseas has become an important direction for expanding the industry’s growth boundary. It not only brings new growth space for companies, but also promotes the global spread of China’s new-style tea beverage culture.