Pinduoduo-owner PDD beats quarterly revenue estimates, shares rise

PDD Holdings beat analysts’ estimates for first-quarter revenue on Friday (May 26) as more price conscious customers turned to its discount e-commerce platforms including Pinduoduo.

The company’s US-listed shares rose 7 per cent in trading before the bell.

Chinese consumer spending has gained some momentum since the country abandoned strict zero-Covid policies late last year. Retail sales in the country rose 5.8 per cent in the January-March period, with online retail sales up 8.6 per cent, according to government data.

Platforms such as Pinduoduo and China’s TikTok-equivalent Douyin gained traction during the pandemic, when livestream selling of goods by merchants became quite popular.

Expansion of PDD’s international platform Temu, which sells made-in-China products at affordable prices, also boosted the company’s revenue growth.

Temu topped the charts for app downloads in the US, Canada and Australia soon after its launch, according to TH Data Capital.

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PDD posted revenue of 37.64 billion yuan (S$7.2 billion), compared with analysts’ estimates of 31.98 billion yuan, according to Refinitiv data.

The company’s net income attributable to ordinary shareholders rose to 8.10 billion yuan from 2.60 billion yuan a year earlier. REUTERS