Cardi B TikTok helps stock in South Korean maker of spicy instant noodles jump by 30%

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Cardi B attends the 2024 Met Gala Celebrating “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 6, 2024 in New York City.

A South Korean instant noodle maker’s stock jumped by their daily limit Friday after posting better-than-expected earnings with help from a product recently featured on social media by rapper Cardi B.

Shares of Samyang Foods Co. soared by 30% to a record high. With the recent attention surrounding its buldak noodles, the company’s stock has more than doubled this year, pushing its market value to nearly $2.5 billion, surpassing that of rival NongShim Co. for the first time since the 1980s.

Samyang Foods’ first-quarter operating profit more than tripled compared with a year earlier to 80.1 billion won ($59 million), according to its results released after Thursday’s market close in Seoul. Sales in its instant noodle division jumped more than 50%, boosted by exports of its buldak noodles.

US revenue surged amid a viral wave for buldak carbonara ramen, a less spicy version of its flagship product. In a TikTok video in March, Cardi B and food critic Keith Lee prepare and eat the noodles.

The rapper said she drove 30 minutes so she could “finally get” the product that was popping up “all over social media.” While the pair gave the noodles a less-than-glittering review, they acknowledged that “everybody’s been raving” about it.

Samyang said it expects US sales to continue to grow for the product, which is currently on the shelves of major US retailers like Walmart, Costco and Sam’s Club, and will be sold at other major grocers soon.