China e-commerce giant JD.com on Thursday beat expectations for the fourth quarter despite some weakness in consumer spending due to Covid-19 restrictions that were lifted in December. But JD stock fell during an overall rough day for stocks.
The Beijing-based company reported adjusted earnings of 70 cents per U.S. share on revenue of $42.8 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected JD to report adjusted earnings of 51 cents a share on revenue of $42.53 billion. On a year-over-year basis, JD earnings jumped 100% while sales advanced 7%.
Before China ended its zero-Covid policy late last year, a surge of coronavirus cases had already disrupted consumption and order fulfillment across the world's second-largest economy.
"While 2022 posed many challenges for JD and China as a whole, we delivered solid operational results and surpassed 1 trillion RMB ($143.6 billion) in annual revenue for the first time," Chief Executive Lei Xu said in a news release.
"Looking ahead, amidst ever-evolving opportunities and challenges, we will stay focused on lowering costs, increasing efficiency, and constantly improving user experience," he added.
JD is one of the largest e-commerce companies in China, competing with Alibaba and PDD Holdings. The company also provides supply-chain technology and services.
JD Stock Falls After Earnings Report
JD stock dropped 11.3% to close at 41.68 on the stock market today.
On Feb. 21, shares of JD, Alibaba and PDD (formerly Pinduoduo) all fell on a report that JD planned to spend $1.5 billion to create a subsidiary that would target budget-conscious consumers. That raised concerns of rising competition and price wars.
Alibaba reported quarterly results late last month that beat estimates, as the China e-commerce giant also fought through softer demand and supply chain woes.
JD stock ranks 10th out of 58 stocks in IBD's Retail-Internet industry group, according to IBD Stock Checkup. It has a middling IBD Composite Rating of 61 out of 99.
Please follow Brian Deagon on Twitter at @IBD_BDeagon for more on tech stocks, analysis and financial markets.
