Marubi was founded in 2002 as an eye care specialist and built itself into China's leading domestic eye cream brand. Its anti-aging positioning resonated with women over 35, a demographic that foreign brands had underserved. By the time of its IPO the brand was known as the 'eye cream king,' with a single product category generating the majority of its revenue.
Marubi listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on July 25, 2019, at a valuation that reflected investors' hunger for domestic beauty brands. The stock surged to an all-time high of ¥92.89 by May 2020, giving it a market capitalization of roughly ¥37 billion. L Capital, the private equity arm of LVMH, had invested in Marubi in 2013, adding international prestige to the brand's domestic credentials.
The decline was driven by a problem the IPO could not solve: Marubi was perceived as a brand for older women. Younger consumers gravitated toward Perfect Diary, Florasis, and other digitally native C-beauty brands that marketed on social media, not television. Marubi's single-product dependency on eye cream became a liability as competitors launched full skincare ranges. By 2025 the stock had fallen 79% from its peak to roughly ¥28, with a market cap of ¥11.2 billion on annual revenue of ¥3.44 billion and net profit of ¥247 million.
Marubi's eye cream for women over 35 became a liability as younger shoppers moved to full-routine C-beauty brands, and the stock fell 79% from ¥92.89 to ¥28.
Marubi's brand identity was tied to eye cream for women over 35 — a positioning that became a liability when younger consumers defined the growth of the beauty market.
A single-product dependency on eye cream meant the brand had no entry point for younger customers who wanted a full skincare routine, not a targeted anti-aging product.
The post-IPO valuation of ¥37 billion priced in growth that never materialized — revenue grew but margins compressed under competition from nimbler C-beauty brands.
The L Capital investment gave Marubi international cachet but also set expectations for premium growth that a single-category domestic brand could not deliver against.
A brand that owns a single product category and a single age cohort has no buffer when the next generation shops differently — eye cream for women over 35 is not a foundation for a beauty company.
Marubi continues to operate and remains profitable, with annual revenue of ¥3.44 billion and 253-plus employees. It launched PASSIONAL LOVER (恋火), a foundation-and-makeup sub-brand, in 2021 as an attempted diversification. However the parent brand's eye-cream dependency and aging consumer profile remain unresolved, and its market cap has stabilized at roughly one-third of its 2020 peak.
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