Shein’s IPO Could Come At a Quarter Of Its Past Valuation

Shein could enter the public markets worth only about a quarter of its peak private valuation, highlighting how dramatically the outlook has changed for the fast-fashion giant as tariffs, regulatory scrutiny and slowing sales take their toll.

The company is targeting a valuation of around $25 billion for its long-awaited Hong Kong initial public offering, according to people familiar with the deal. Another estimate puts the potential valuation at up to $28 billion based on the offering's marketing price range.

That represents a striking decline for a company valued at $100 billion just four years ago, and an even sharper reduction from what Shein itself was hoping to achieve only weeks ago.

Reuters reported Monday that Shein could launch the IPO later this week and plans to issue as much as 8% of its total shares. At a $25 billion valuation, the offering could raise up to $2 billion.

The latest valuation target is significantly below the $30 billion to $40 billion range the company was seeking when it began meeting investors earlier this month.

Reuters previously reported that Shein was hoping to secure that valuation ahead of an August listing. The latest pricing suggests prospective investors have pushed back as concerns mount over its growth prospects.

The contrast with Shein's peak is even more dramatic. The company was valued at $100 billion in an April 2022 funding round, putting it alongside Elon Musk's SpaceX and TikTok owner ByteDance as one of the world's most valuable private startups at the time. The Wall Street Journal reported that the fundraising made Shein worth more than the combined market capitalizations of fast-fashion giants H&M and Zara owner Inditex at the time.

That valuation was built on expectations of extraordinary growth. Those expectations have since been substantially reset.

Shein's revenue increased 41.1% in 2023 and 20.7% in 2024 before growth slowed to just 8% in 2025, when the company generated $41.8 billion in revenue. Growth weakened further in the first quarter of 2026 to only 1.1%.

The company also swung to a $99 million loss in the first quarter after taking $328 million in fair-value losses related to convertible shares, according to financial information disclosed in its Hong Kong listing documents.

Shein's challenges have intensified as governments in its biggest markets target the business model that helped fuel its global expansion: shipping huge volumes of inexpensive goods directly to consumers.

In the United States, the removal of the de minimis exemption for low-value Chinese imports and the introduction of additional tariffs have increased costs for Shein. The exemption had been particularly valuable to companies shipping inexpensive individual packages directly from China because qualifying parcels could previously enter the U.S. without standard import duties.

Europe is tightening the rules as well. The European Union introduced a €3 customs duty on low-value e-commerce parcels from July, targeting the flood of inexpensive packages entering the bloc from platforms including Shein, Temu and AliExpress.

CNBC reported that Shein itself has warned investors that regulatory changes could further pressure sales, particularly in Europe, which has become its largest market.

Competition is another problem. Shein's rapid rise helped transform online fast fashion, but rivals including Temu have since embraced similar models built around inexpensive Chinese-made products sold directly to overseas consumers. Traditional retailers have also accelerated their online operations, making the market significantly more crowded than it was when Shein achieved its $100 billion valuation.

Those pressures are now shaping investor appetite ahead of the Hong Kong listing.

Some investors who reviewed Shein's financial information or attended IPO presentations were unconvinced that the company could return to the growth rates that supported its $98.2 billion valuation in a 2022 fundraising round, Reuters reported last week.

A $25 billion valuation would still put Shein at roughly 12 times its 2025 net income of $2.06 billion. But the lower price could have consequences beyond the headline valuation.

Under provisions disclosed in Shein's IPO filings, the company may have to issue additional shares to certain pre-IPO investors if its valuation falls below agreed thresholds. That could alter the ownership stakes of its founders and existing shareholders.