Mercari shares claw back losses after Pokémon card curbs

Shares of Mercari jumped more than 4% on Friday, extending their rebound from a selloff sparked by the Japanese online marketplace’s restrictions on listings of Pokémon’s 30th anniversary products announced Tuesday. 

The company said the restrictions would remain in place for as long as it determines that a safe and secure trading environment cannot be ensured.

Its shares closed 6.4% lower on Wednesday, the day the restrictions took effect, before recovering to close 1.4% higher on Thursday.

The stock was also outperforming the Nikkei 225 on Friday morning, which was up roughly 1%. 

Mercari said it imposed the temporary listing ban over concerns that a surge in transactions following the release of the anniversary products could lead to trading disputes, as well as harassment of users involved in transactions.

Citibank attributed Wednesday’s more than 6% drop to Mercari’s announcement of the Pokémon card listing restrictions. It said Mercari’s recent share-price weakness had pushed the stock to “overly pessimistic levels,” calling the shares “oversold” and the pullback an investment opportunity.

Growth in the value of goods sold on Mercari’s marketplace in the second half of fiscal 2026 exceeded expectations, while a recovery across multiple categories could support double-digit growth, the bank added. 

Citi also said that the halt to trading of certain products was negative for Mercari, but said the impact was not significant enough for the bank to revise its forecasts.

The restrictions come amid a global Pokémon card boom. Online marketplace eBay said “Pokémon” was searched more than six million times on its U.K. site in July, underscoring continued demand for trading cards.

Pokémon card prices have surged 1,350% since 2020, according to an index compiled by Collectors, which owns card grading agency Professional Sports Authenticator, CNBC previously reported.  In February, influencer Logan Paul sold a rare Pikachu Illustrator card for more than $16 million, after buying it for just over $5 million in 2021. New cards can sell out within minutes, with people coordinating on X and Discord to know where to go.

A post on X this month claimed that a Pokémon card sold for $2.7 million at auction, setting a record.

Mercari signed an agreement with The Pokémon Company in 2023 to promote safer trading of Pokémon products on its marketplace, and introduced a policy in 2025 allowing it to restrict listings when issues such as fraud, transaction disputes or extreme price swings threaten marketplace safety.