JD.com Beats Forecast with 22% Increase in Revenue

JD.com, China’s leading technology driven e-commerce company and retail infrastructure service provider, announced its financial results for the forth quarter and full year of 2018. It beats analyst estimates on the back of stronger online retail sales and sends its U.S.-listed shares up 8 percent. The net revenues for Q4 were 134.8 billion yuan ($219.6 billion), an increase of 22.4 percent from the same period last year.

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“In the fourth quarter of 2018, JD.com continued to outperform the industry across our key product categories,” said Richard Liu, Chairman and CEO of JD.com.

“Our investments in technology enhanced the customer experience and enabled greater operating efficiency. As JD.com pushes the boundaries of retail, we are committed to optimizing our resources across our business in order to deliver long term value to our shareholders.”

Even though the numbers were a happy surprise to many, the results still represent the company’s slowest quarterly revenue growth since 2015, as an economic slowdown continues to affect China’s e-commerce market.

JD.com‘s sales are seasonally high in the fourth quarter due to promotions surrounding “Single’s Day”, a China-wide online shopping frenzy that peaks on November 11.

In the last months of 2018, JD.com took significant steps to continue enhancing and expanding its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) program and was ranked 131st on the Forbes World’s Best Employers 2018 list, a significant increase from its 251st ranking in 2017.

The JD territory keeps expanding as a growing number of premium brands have started to show interest in JD’s e-commerce platform due to its reputation as China’s most trusted retailer for quality products.DKNY, Iconic New York-based luxury fashion brand, and Sulwhasoo, a leading luxury beauty brand in Korea owned by Amorepacific, both launched flagship stores on JD in 2018.

JD now has over 210,000 merchants on its online marketplace, and over 178,000 full-time employees and the company expects to keep growing throughout 2019. The net revenues of the first quarter of this year are expected to land somewhere between 118 billion yuan ($17.6 billion) and 122 billion yuan ($18.2 billion), representing a growth rate of around 20 percent compared to the first quarter last year.

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