LEGO Posts $12.9B in 2025 Revenue With Pokémon Leading Its Licensing Push

LEGO is making Pokémon the centerpiece of its next growth push after it delivered 12% revenue growth for the brand and 18% profit growth in 2025.

The company now plans to pair the franchise with a new connected SMART Brick and broader licensing strategy.

CEO Niels Christiansen told Reuters that volume growth, not price increases, drove the performance, and the company has no immediate plans to raise prices.

The SMART Brick, featuring lights, scanners, speakers, and sensors, is the product vehicle LEGO is using to deepen those partnerships.

Collaborations with Formula 1, Nike, and Bluey have also contributed alongside Pokémon, with its China market returning to growth after two years of flat or declining sales.

The results land as LEGO, like most manufacturers, watches rising oil prices driven by the Middle East conflict for signs of longer-term pressure on plastic and raw material costs.

The SMART Brick and What It Signals

LEGO's SMART Brick moves its products closer to the interactive toy category.

Established physical brands have been adding connected layers to extend play value and defend shelf space against digital entertainment for years.

The SMART Brick is LEGO's direct entry into this space.

Christiansen has positioned it as an extension of what LEGO already does, and not a departure from it.

A Pokémon set that lights up when a specific piece is placed represents a meaningfully different product than a standard licensed set.

And this gap is where the brand sees more room to grow.

Licensing as a Growth Engine

Pokémon is LEGO's most strategically valuable licensing partner right now, reaching both children and adult collectors alike.

The broader portfolio fills out the remaining audience segments.

F1 captures the motorsport crossover audience that has grown significantly since Drive to Survive.

Meanwhile, Bluey connects with the preschool market, and Nike speaks to the streetwear and sneaker community.

This diverse range is intentional.

LEGO is not dependent on any single IP category, which gives it more stability than toy companies that rise and fall with a single franchise cycle.

The company's 2025 revenue of $12.9 billion reflects a licensing portfolio distributed across age groups and cultural verticals, from Pokémon and Star Wars to Botanicals and Formula 1.

Its approach to licensing also offers a clear framework for brands considering co-branded product strategies.

LEGO's 2025 performance offers a few concrete lessons for brands building licensing and product extension plans:

• Spread licensed partnerships across audience segments. Covering separate IPs reduces dependence on any single trend cycle.
• Connected features extend product value. The SMART Brick adds digital interaction without replacing LEGO’s core building experience.
• Local manufacturing reduces supply risk. LEGO’s Virginia plant, expected in 2027, shows how regional production can help manage supply chain volatility.

LEGO's results suggest that volume growth through brand reach is a viable path through a period of input cost pressure.

Our Take: Does LEGO's Model Hold Under Pressure?

We think that LEGO is one of the better-managed consumer brands operating right now, and the 2025 numbers back this up.

Growing profit faster than revenue while holding prices flat across every region simultaneously is genuinely difficult to execute.

The SMART Brick is the more interesting long-term brand strategy. LEGO knows it needs to innovate or it will get left behind.

And we think that a famous anime franchise built on collecting and discovering creatures is the best fit to introduce this. 

Pokémon is also marking its 30th anniversary with 1,000+ custom logos for every character in its universe, making LEGO's collab all the more relevant.

Brands building licensing strategies and co-branded product partnerships need agencies that understand how to align IP selection with long-term brand positioning.

Explore the top branding agencies in our directory.