E-commerce giant JD.com posted resilient results on Thursday for its third quarter, exceeding market expectations.
Net revenue climbed to RMB 218.7 billion (USD 33.9 billion), an increase of 25.5% from the same period last year, despite the high base in 2020 when the company benefited from a surge in online purchases during lockdowns. The company beat analysts’ average estimate of USD 33.54 billion, according to financial data aggregator Seeking Alpha.
Net product revenue, which includes JD.com’s sales from online retail, surged 22.9% to RMB 186 billion (USD 28.8 billion), surpassing its major rival, Alibaba. On the same day, Alibaba posted RMB 171 billion (USD 26.7 billion) Q3 revenue from commerce, which fell short of market expectations, marking its slowest annual revenue growth since its IPO in 2014.
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Despite facing macroeconomic choppiness and ongoing disruptions in its supply chains as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company was able to outperform the broader retail industry thanks to its strong supply chain and logistics infrastructure. Its growing consumer base helped drive strong results for the quarter, according to Xu Lei, president of JD.com.
“We expect the impact of raw material shortages and price inflation will pass to the consumer side from Q4 2021 to Q1 2022. JD will try to trim the price volatility through close cooperation with our partners and stability of our supply chain,” said Xu during the conference call.
JD.com’s share price has rallied on the quarterly results, closing after a 5.95% climb to USD 88.10 on Thursday in New York.
The persisting regulatory crackdown clouds the future of many Chinese companies listed overseas, but JD.com’s business was not hit as hard as other tech giants.
JD.com will continue to focus on building high-quality businesses and investing in technologies and core capabilities to ensure its sustainable growth in the long run, said Sandy Xu, CFO of JD.com.