New York, May 13, 2026, 05:02 (EDT)
- JD’s shares in Hong Kong jumped 8.3% at the close. Its Nasdaq ADR was on track for gains ahead of the U.S. open, after the company topped first-quarter revenue and adjusted profit estimates.
- This wasn’t really a China consumer confidence story—what mattered was JD Retail defending its margin, plus a slimmer loss from food delivery compared to the previous quarter.
- Bulls point to services expansion, aggressive buybacks, and tighter retail controls. Bears, meanwhile, remain wary of the expensive rivalry with Alibaba, Meituan, and PDD—not to mention tariffs and lingering softness in household demand.
JD.com jumped out of the gate in Hong Kong, finishing at HK$128.20—an 8.28% gain that came within a whisker of its session peak, HK$128.30. Over in the U.S., the company’s ADR was quoted at $31.49 ahead of the New York bell, up roughly 3.2%.
No mystery behind the rally. Investors had worried JD’s expansion in food delivery would keep squeezing margins. That didn’t happen. JD’s first-quarter revenue hit RMB315.7 billion, with adjusted earnings per ADS of RMB5.12—both topping expectations. Analysts polled by Investing.com were looking for RMB311 billion in revenue and RMB3.64 in adjusted earnings. Adjusted (non-GAAP) profit leaves out certain accounting items.
That result was key, with the stock previously weighed down by worries JD would burn too much cash just to stay in the game in China’s cutthroat retail sector. This quarter, the numbers told a different story. JD Retail posted operating income of RMB15.0 billion, while the operating margin climbed to 5.6%, up from 4.9% a year ago. Management flagged a “significant” reduction in JD Food Delivery investment versus the last quarter. JD.Com, Inc.
Still, this was no straightforward profit win. Reuters highlighted a 53% drop in net income from a year ago, down to RMB5.1 billion. That figure actually topped forecasts, but costs—fulfillment, R&D, and marketing—climbed sharply. JD is navigating a tough environment: Chinese shoppers remain cautious, real estate continues to weigh, U.S. tariffs have jumped on a range of goods, and fuel costs are pushing up living expenses, the same report said.
The mood from management stayed cautious. CEO Sandy Xu flagged an 8.4% year-over-year drop in electronics and home-appliance revenue—still, that was better than last quarter. Xu’s main message for the back half: JD is looking for “stronger performance in electronics and home appliances” before year-end. Reuters
CFO Ian Su Shan stuck to the margin narrative, emphasizing JD Retail’s role this quarter and calling out growth in higher-margin segments like marketplace and marketing revenue. Losses in the company’s newer businesses, he said, narrowed sharply. Shan also highlighted $631 million in share buybacks for the quarter, roughly 1.6% of total shares outstanding, leaving $1.4 billion still available in the current repurchase program.
Alibaba’s peers aren’t faring much better. The company is grappling with mounting AI costs and rapid commerce red ink. Price wars in food delivery—Alibaba, JD.com, Meituan all locked in—have slashed margins for the group. PDD Holdings operates differently, but its relentless discounts leave JD’s e-commerce business with little room to breathe on pricing.
Bulls point first to the revenue mix. JD’s service revenue jumped 20.6%, marketplace and marketing climbed 18.8%, while logistics surged 29.0%. Those segments mean JD isn’t boxed into just moving electronics and appliances from its warehouse shelves. Food-delivery losses? If that red ink keeps shrinking, investors could argue the biggest margin drag is already behind them.
For bears, the main worry hasn’t shifted: JD’s New Businesses segment is still deep in the red, posting an operating loss of RMB10.35 billion for the quarter. Electronics and home appliances also continued to slide compared to last year. Yes, sequential improvement helps, but it doesn’t really answer the big price-war issue—not while Alibaba and Meituan keep pouring money into delivery subsidies and PDD keeps pressing prices even lower.
Macro tail risk is lurking in the background for the ADR play. Polymarket currently prices in a 63% chance that the U.S. and China will reach a tariff deal by May 31. JD’s earnings swing wasn’t about that, but for Chinese ADRs, traders have lumped tariff overhang, consumer sentiment, and valuation discounts into a single risk bucket.
This isn’t your classic “China is back” rally. JD’s rise is more specific. The company managed to prove it can still squeeze out margins from retail, even as it pours money into food delivery, logistics, and cross-border expansion. That was good enough for investors, at least for now. But the question ahead: will costs keep dropping when Alibaba, Meituan, and PDD turn up the heat again?
