What happened
Shares of JD.com (JD +1.34%) were soaring today after the Chinese e-commerce company posted record sales for the 11/11 Singles Day shopping holiday.
As of 12:21 p.m. EST, the stock was up 7.3%.
Image source: JD.com
So what
China's largest direct retailer reported a transaction volume of $55 billion during the shopping festival, which started on Oct. 31 on JD.com, and includes both third-party sales and its own first-party sales. Transaction volume of Apple products topped $1.6 billion and 30 other brands saw sales of more than 1 billion yuan, or more than $160 million.
JD also said it had a record of merchants join the sales bonanza, including 6,000 new apparel brands. Seventy-seven percent of sales came from lower-tier cities, or smaller cities away from Beijing and Shanghai, showing a geographically diverse customer base, and the company saw strong sales in a wide range of categories, including appliances, beauty, and pet products.
Now what
In the midst of a government crackdown on a number of Chinese tech companies, investors have largely moved away from stocks like JD, but today's results, which echo strong numbers from rival platforms, show that the Chinese consumer remains strong and the economy continues to grow rapidly.
Despite the regulatory concerns, Chinese tech stocks like JD still have a lot of growth potential. We'll learn more when the company reports third-quarter earnings next Thursday. Analysts are expecting revenue to increase 26% to $33.9 billion, but see earnings per share falling from $0.53 to $0.32, reflecting investments the company is making in a number of areas.
