JD.com shares fell more than 1% in U.S. premarket trading on Thursday after investors focused on a year-over-year decline in revenue, despite the Chinese e-commerce company reporting better-than-expected quarterly results.
JD.com Beats Earnings and Revenue Forecasts
For the second quarter, JD.com reported earnings per share of RMB6.29, comfortably above analysts’ estimate of RMB5.63.
Revenue reached RMB346.4 billion, also exceeding the consensus forecast of RMB342.7 billion.
However, sales were 2.9% lower compared with the second quarter of 2025. JD.com said the decline was largely due to a difficult comparison with the strong revenue base recorded a year earlier.
The annual revenue contraction appeared to outweigh the earnings and sales beat in early trading, putting pressure on JD.com shares.
JD.com Highlights Improving Profitability
JD.com CEO Sandy Xu described the company’s second-quarter performance as evidence of resilient operations and improving profitability.
Management said that although the company continues to face short-term revenue challenges, profit growth strengthened during the quarter.
The improvement was supported by solid profitability in the company’s core JD Retail business. JD.com also continued to reduce losses at its JD Food Delivery division.
These developments helped improve the group’s overall earnings profile despite weaker year-over-year revenue.
Operating Margins Show Strong Improvement
JD.com’s profitability metrics improved significantly during the quarter.
The company’s non-GAAP operating margin increased to 1.6%, up sharply from just 0.3% a year earlier.
Meanwhile, non-GAAP EBITDA more than doubled to RMB7.9 billion, compared with RMB3.0 billion in the same period last year.
The corresponding non-GAAP EBITDA margin expanded to 2.3% from 0.8%, highlighting JD.com’s progress in controlling costs and improving operational efficiency.
Investors Focus on Revenue Outlook
While JD.com managed to outperform analyst expectations on both earnings and revenue, the decline in annual sales remains a key concern for investors.
The stronger margins and improving profitability provide encouraging signs for the company’s underlying business. However, markets are likely to continue watching revenue growth closely to determine whether the current slowdown is temporary or points to broader weakness in consumer demand.
For now, JD.com’s quarterly results present a mixed picture: profitability is improving rapidly, but revenue growth remains under pressure, helping explain the negative reaction in premarket trading.
