What happened
Shares of JD.com (JD 2.61%) were moving backwards today. The Chinese e-commerce company recently posted solid third-quarter results, but they weren't enough to please investors. Results on the top line were just short of consensus expectations, and the stock was trading down 7% as of 2:22 p.m. EST.
So what
Revenue at JD.com, which is China's biggest direct online seller, rose 29.2% to $25.66 billion, just a hair short of estimates $25.7 billion. Growth in general merchandise, which includes segments like groceries, was strong, rising 34.8% to $8.6 billion and revenue from services like third-party logistics and its marketplace was up 42.7% to $3.4 billion.
Image source: JD.com.
The results show the company continuing to deliver solid growth even as China's economy normalizes after its pandemic lockdown at the beginning of the year.
On the bottom line, JD also gained operating leverage as adjusted operating income rose 77% to $776.8 million, and adjusted earnings per share rose from $0.29 to $0.50, topping expectations at $0.40.
"We are pleased to set new records across many of our financial and operating metrics this quarter," CFO Sandy Xu said in a statement. "We delivered robust topline growth across all of our product lines as well as record profitability driven by improved operating efficiency and the realization of scale benefits."
Now what
Management did not provide guidance in its earnings release as it normally does, which may also have spooked investors, but the main reason for the sell-off may be that the stock has already soared this year. Even with today's pullback, the stock is up nearly 150% year to date.
In other words, such a performance was likely baked into the stock and investors may be selling on the lack of the clarity for the fourth quarter. Nonetheless, JD's strong results on Singles Day shows that its performance appears to be on track for the current period.
