What’s new: JD.com Inc. reported better-than-expected third-quarter sales and profits Monday as shoppers continued to shift online after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Chinese e-commerce giant reported sales of 174.21 billion yuan ($26.5 billion) during the July-September quarter, up 29% from the year-ago period and beating the 170.5 billion yuan average of analysts’ estimates. Profit surged to 7.6 billion yuan from 600 million yuan a year ago, helped by one-time gains of more than 3.7 billion yuan from the value of investments and other items.
Annual active customer accounts increased by 32% to 441.6 million in the 12 months ended Sept. 30, of which roughly 80% came from less-developed cities, the battleground between JD.com and smaller rival Pinduoduo Inc.
The background: JD.com joins rivals Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Pinduoduo in beating Wall Street estimates. Pinduoduo last week posted a stronger-than-expected 89% surge in third-quarter sales, while Alibaba’s revenue grew 30%, the slowest pace ever for a July-September quarter.
The e-commerce giants’ strong performance also coincides with growing regulatory pressure on internet platforms. Just a day before Double 11, China’s massive Nov. 11 annual online shopping festival, market regulators issued draft rules aiming to prevent anticompetitive practices in internet platforms’ economic activities.
China is also making major revisions to its antitrust law for the first time in 12 years to give it more teeth while reining in the dominance of the country’s internet Goliaths.
Contact reporter Denise Jia (huijuanjia@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com).
Related: In Depth: Alibaba and Pinduoduo Slug It Out for Dominance of China’s Online Bargain Basement
