Meituan Returns to Profit as Food-Delivery Competition Eases — Update

By Tracy Qu

Meituan returned to profit in the second quarter as China's top food-delivery company recovered from a bruising price war in the world's second-largest consumer market.

The results snapped a three-quarter streak of losses for the Chinese shopping-and-delivery platform, which is battling Alibaba Group and JD.com to defend its market leadership in food delivery.

Beijing-based Meituan on Friday said its net profit was 2.155 billion yuan, equivalent to $320.6 million, for the three months ended June. That compared with the 6.82 billion yuan loss it recorded in the first quarter and net profit of about 365 million yuan in the year-ago period.

Revenue jumped 14% from a year earlier to 104.64 billion yuan, accelerating from the 5.6% growth in the previous quarter.

Both figures beat market expectations. Analysts had estimated a net loss of 1.43 billion yuan on revenue of 101.56 billion yuan, according to a FactSet-compiled consensus.

"As the food-delivery industry gradually shifted back to operational efficiency, both our order mix and user mix continued to improve," Meituan said.

Revenue from the core local commerce segment rose 10%, helping the company turn an operating profit for the second quarter. The new initiatives division, which includes overseas businesses, narrowed operating losses as revenue climbed 25% on progress in the company's expansion abroad.

Meituan said its Keeta platform maintained robust growth momentum. "In Hong Kong, the business achieved stable profitability, while the Middle East market continued to see sequential efficiency improvements," it said.

DBS analysts earlier raised their 2026 and 2027 earnings forecasts for the company by 4% and 6%, respectively, citing an improved food-delivery business. Meituan stands to gain from a recovery in margins as key competitors reduce subsidies and redirect resources away from food delivery, they said in a note.

China Galaxy International said unit economics at Meituan's food-delivery unit also likely turned profitable in the second quarter as it cut back subsidies.

Meituan's Hong Kong-listed shares were unchanged ahead of the results, leaving year-to-date losses at about 25%.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 28, 2026 06:09 ET (10:09 GMT)