Shein, the Chinese fast fashion giant, will debut on the stock exchange on 1 September 2026 on the Hong Kong list. But it does so with a valuation drastically reduced compared to the peaks of the past: between 26.8 and 27 billion dollars, against the almost 100 billion reached in 2022. The operation, one of the most anticipated of the year in Asia, puts 280 million shares on sale at a price between 47.60 and 49.50 Hong Kong dollars, aiming to raise up to 13.86 billion Hong Kong dollars (approximately 1.5-1.77 billion US dollars). The final price will be communicated on August 31st.
Because Shein is worth much less
Shein’s path to listing has been long and bumpy. After evaluating New York and London, the company opted for Hong Kong and only got the green light from Chinese authorities in July 2026. In 2022, Shein was valued at $98.2 billion in a private financing round. In 2024 the valuation had fallen to 64 billion, while now, with the Hong Kong IPO, it stands between 26.8 and 27 billion dollars: a reduction of approximately 70-74% compared to the peak.
The downsizing is caused by a change in investor sentiment, as explained by Winston Ma, professor at NYU School of Law and former head of the Chinese sovereign wealth fund CIC:
Public investors no longer pay for exponential growth. They are funding a mature cross-border platform that now must defend its profit margins from trade tariffs, higher compliance costs and regulatory scrutiny.
The first quarter of 2026 at a loss
The difficulties emerge clearly from the most recent financial results. In the first quarter of 2026, Shein reported a net loss of $99 million, compared to a profit of $395 million in the same period of 2025. The loss was mainly due to a non-cash accounting charge of $328 million, related to the valuation of convertible preferred shares. The slowdown in growth and the impact of new US tariffs also had an impact.
First quarter 2026 revenue grew just 1.1% from a year earlier to $9.05 billion. In the United States, Shein’s historically most important market, sales fell by 14.3%, from $2.38 billion to $2.04 billion. The share of US revenues in the total fell from 29.4% in 2023 to 22.5% in the first quarter of 2026.
Despite the slowdown, Shein remains a leading global player. In 2025, annual revenues reached 41.8-41.9 billion dollars, up 8% compared to 38.8 billion in 2024 and 32.1 billion in 2023. However, the pace of growth has progressively slowed down: from +41.1% in 2023 to +20.7% in 2024 and +8% in 2025. In the first quarter of 2026, the increase stopped at 1.1%.
The reasons for the slowdown
Shein’s business model, based on ultra-competitive pricing and direct shipments from China, has been severely impacted by the removal of the de minimis tariff exemption for small parcels in the United States, which came into effect in 2026. This measure has increased import costs and eroded the group’s competitive advantage, prompting the company to consider price increases to at least partially offset the impact.
Even in the European Union the situation is not rosy. From July 2026, the duty exemption for low-value goods (under 150 euros) has been abolished, with the introduction of a 3 euro tax on imported small parcels and new responsibilities for platforms such as Shein, Temu and AliExpress. Added to these factors are increasing competition from Temu, pricing pressure and declining demand in some regions, including the Middle East.
