How the company continues to conquer the gaming industry

Lego has just gone public — with the help of a secret weapon behind the scenes.

The Danish company on Tuesday reported a 12% jump in revenue to 83.5 billion Danish kroner, or $12.9 billion, for fiscal 2025. The company said operating profit rose 18% year-over-year to 22 billion Danish kroner, or $3.4 billion.

“When we look at the growth area, it’s fairly broad in the sense that it’s not one product or one topic, it’s pretty broad,” Lego CEO Nils Christiansen told CNBC.

Lego consumer sales jumped 16%, outpacing the toy market’s overall growth of 7% during the same period, the company reported. Lego has steadily outperformed the toy industry since the pandemic, increasing its market share and space on retail shelves.

The Brickmaker’s Secret: A combination of trend spotting and a streamlined supply chain.

Lego has a highly licensed product line, featuring sets based on a wide range of popular films, television shows and video games, as well as a large number of in-house brands such as flower arrangements, art pieces and architectural structures.

The company said that last year it launched its largest product range ever, with more than 860 sets hitting shelves. About half of those items were new.

By expanding its product catalog, Lego has also grown its customer base. Gateways to the brand such as its line of botanicals — plants, bouquets and succulents — and its ongoing partnership with Epic Games — which brings Lego to the digital space and elements from the popular video game Fortnite to the physical world — have encouraged newcomers to the brick-building space, Christiansen said.

Once there, these agents discover other groups and continue to build. And it’s not just kids, adult builders make up a significant portion of Lego sales.

Toy experts told CNBC that Lego was at the forefront, embracing adults as a major toy consumer long before the industry coined the term “kidult.” Adults who buy for themselves account for 25% to 30% of all global toy sales, according to data from Circana.

“We have had good success with many different product types, construction methods and passion points,” Christiansen said.

One of the company’s recent additions to its portfolio is its partnership with Formula One motor racing. Lego has been a presence at Formula 1 races since last season, hosting in-person activities that included life-sized functional cars and hand-made brick trophies for podium finishes.

F1 building sets range from Duplo sets for preschoolers, traditional sets for everyday builders and Lego Technic sets for more advanced crafters. Additionally, as part of the ongoing relationship between the two brands, Lego has signed a contract as a sponsor of the F1 Academy car team starting in 2026.

But Lego’s real secret weapon in outdoing the toy industry isn’t flashy.

Lego has developed an incredibly efficient supply chain, allowing it to produce products closer to their final retail destination.

For example, the company’s plant in Mexico currently supplies the Americas, while its plant in Hungary helps supply parts of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Lego recently opened a location in Vietnam to serve the Asia-Pacific region, and is scheduled to open a new facility in Virginia in 2027.

Christiansen said the new US-based factory will help keep up with growing demand for the product in the Americas.

This not only makes the shipping process more efficient and shortens the delivery time for fans, but also reduces costs. Lego can design what it makes based on regional demand, which means it doesn’t create excess inventory.

Lego can also be more nimble than its competitors during trade disputes or shipping disruptions because its factories are not all concentrated in one area.

“You come off a year like 2025, and we’ve seen this growth that has exceeded our expectations, and … what a mountain to climb,” Christiansen said. “On the other hand, we have really strong momentum. It continues throughout the year and into this year. So, I think we feel good about growth at the top of ’25, maybe not at the same rate of growth. Our expectations will be high single digits, which is great.”

In 2026, Lego is introducing sets based on the likes of Pokémon, “Lord of the Rings” and The Legend of Zelda, as well as launching its own new creation: the Lego Smart Brick. The new high-tech 2-by-4 Lego piece, which is part of several new “Star Wars” sets, has sensors that react to movement, make sounds and light up when played with.

“So I think there are a lot of different things that need to be done well throughout the year,” Christiansen said.