JD sales surge 29% in Q3, beat estimates

E-commerce giant JD said sales climbed by a better-than-expected 29 percent in the third quarter to reach 174.21 billion yuan (US$26.5 billion), versus the average 170.5 billion yuan estimated by analysts.

Profit jumped 80.1 percent to 5.6 billion yuan due to a one-off investment gain.

Revenue from services like third-party logistics and its marketplace was up 42.7 percent to US$3.4 billion.

"Our business partners are recovering rapidly with the support of our online and offline supply chain infrastructure. And our consumer mindshare continues to expand with over 100 million new active users joining our platform compared to a year ago,” said CEO Richard Liu.

Annual active customer accounts increased by 32 percent to 441.6 million in the 12 months ending September, of which roughly 80 percent came from less-developed cities.

The user base of its premium membership program JD PLUS exceeded 20 million.

BOCOM International wrote in a research note that it expects the supermarket category to drive top-line growth in the mid-to-long term and it remains optimistic on economies of scale and improving operating efficiency.

Goldman Sachs estimates China’s online grocery market to reach 7 trillion yuan in five years, when half of China’s grocery shopping is expected to take place through digital channels.

Shanghai-headquartered Pinduoduo, which rivals Alibaba and JD, last week also posted a stronger-than-expected 89 percent surge in third-quarter sales.

Total gross merchandise sales soared 73 percent to US$214.7 billion.

Pinduoduo had 643.4 million monthly average users during the quarter, up 50 percent from the year-earlier period.