JD.com Beats Profit Expectations; Food-Delivery Losses Narrow — Update

By Tracy Qu

JD.com returned to profit with better-than-expected results in the first quarter, as the Chinese e-commerce giant made progress in stemming losses in its food-delivery business.

The consensus-beating performance comes as the online retailer has seen its bottom line deteriorate since it entered China's highly competitive food-delivery market in early 2025, taking on the likes of Meituan and Alibaba Group. Its aggressive investments to capture market share and the ensuing price war eventually pushed the company into the red for the first time in nearly four years.

E-commerce remains JD.com's primary business even as the company has quickly gained a foothold in the food-delivery industry, offering heavy discounts to lure customers away from market leader Meituan and No. 2 player Ele.me. Chinese regulators have repeatedly warned against excessive competition that has eaten into food-delivery companies' profit margins.

The Beijing-based company on Tuesday posted net profit of 5.10 billion yuan, equivalent to $750.6 million, for the first three months of the year. That compared with net profit of 10.89 billion yuan a year earlier, and reversed the 2.71 billion yuan net loss it recorded in the final quarter of 2025.

Adjusted net profit, which excludes share-based compensation and fair-value changes of long-term investments, among other items, was 7.38 billion yuan, down 42% from the previous year.

Revenue rose 4.9% to 315.69 billion yuan.

Analysts had expected net profit of 3.53 billion yuan and revenue of 310.14 billion yuan, according to a FactSet consensus estimate.

Retail sales, which account for more than four-fifths of total revenue, rose 1.8% in the three months ended March. Logistics sales climbed 29%, while the new business segment, which includes food delivery and overseas businesses, grew sales by 9.1%.

JD.com said its food-delivery business maintained healthy development in the first quarter. Unit economics per order continued to improve, and total investment in food delivery "further narrowed significantly on a sequential basis," it said.

The company also said in its earnings release that it substantially narrowed losses sequentially in its new businesses in the first quarter, led by its food-delivery unit.

JD.com also noted the continuing synergies its food-delivery business has unlocked with its core retail business, highlighting its user growth, increased shopping frequency and cross-category purchases.

The company's American depositary receipts were recently 0.5% higher in premarket trading. Its shares have risen about 6% in Hong Kong this year, following a 18% decline in 2025 amid concerns that the intense food-delivery competition would drag its profitability.

Write to Tracy Qu at tracy.qu@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 12, 2026 07:44 ET (11:44 GMT)