Shein advances toward Hong Kong IPO after years of failed attempts, but the numbers tell a complicated story

Shein spent the better part of four years trying to go public. It tried New York. It tried London. Both fell apart. Now the Singapore-based fast-fashion juggernaut is making its move in Hong Kong, with a listing date targeted for around September 1 following a planned IPO launch on August 24, 2026. The company finally secured approval from China’s securities regulator, the CSRC, on July 10. But the Shein heading to market today looks very different from the one that commanded a $100 billion valuation during a 2022 private funding round. The current target valuation sits somewhere between $26 billion and $40 billion, a decline that would make most founders lose sleep for a decade. The financial picture has gotten messy Shein’s draft prospectus, filed in late July, paints a portrait of a company whose explosive growth phase has given way to something far less flattering. In 2025, the company reported revenue of $41.85 billion, an 8% year-over-year increase. That sounds fine until you look at the profit line: net income fell 38.7% to $2.06 billion. The first quarter of 2026 made things worse. Shein posted a net loss of $99 million, compared to a profit of $395 million in Q1 2025. US r...