What’s new: Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com Inc. reported a 31% jump in fourth-quarter revenue Thursday, reflecting a rising tide of online shopping amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
JD.com’s net revenue for the 2020 fourth quarter reached 224.3 billion yuan ($134.4 billion), according to the company’s unaudited financial report. Annual revenue totaled 745.8 billion yuan, up 29.3% from 2019, the company said.
Fourth-quarter net income attributable to ordinary shareholders surged sixfold to 24.3 billion yuan from 3.6 billion yuan for the same period a year earlier.
Annual active customers on JD.com’s platforms increased by 30.3% to 471.9 million in 2020 from 362.0 million in 2019, the company said.
What’s the context: JD.com’s strong performance underscored China’s broader shift to online shopping, even though the country has largely emerged from pandemic lockdown measures.
The company’s accelerated revenue and user growth during the fourth quarter also reflected its strategic transformation into a supply chain-based technology and service company with increasingly diversified sources of revenues, said Richard Liu, chairman and chief executive officer of JD.com.
JD.com’s U.S.-listed shares jumped 8.4% at $96.80 in pre-market trading. The stock finished the day 0.76% higher.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com).
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