Four years ago, Luckin Coffee was kicked off the Nasdaq after the buzzy Chinese coffee chain admitted that it had inflated its sales by over $300 million. The resulting scandal helped to spark a crisis that threatened $1.3 trillion worth of stock, as regulators decided to put the screws on auditing practices for U.S.-listed Chinese companies.
For U.S.-based observers, the story ended there. But Luckin restored its fortunes in its home market of China. By 2022, Luckin stores had overtaken the number of Starbucks outlets in China. Then in 2023, Luckin reported annual revenue of 24.9 billion yuan ($3.48 billion), surpassing Starbucks’ China revenue of around $3.16 billion. (Luckin’s revenue includes 30 outlets in Singapore.)
