BEIJING, November 18  (TMTPOST)— Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com defied the Wall Street expectations again, highlighting the recovery ahead though uncertain about its speed and extend.

Source: Visual China

JD posted better-than-expected financial results both the top and bottom line for two quarters in a row. In the quarter ended September 30, 2022, its net revenue surged 11.4% year-over-year (YoY) to RMB243.5 billion (US$134.2 billion), topping the analysts’ forecast of RMB243.07 billion. Non-GAAP diluted net income per American depositary share (ADS) for the quarter was RMB6.27 (US$0.88), almost doubling a year ago and beating the expected RMB4.46. Non-GAAP net income attributable to ordinary shareholders for the quarter was RMB10.0 billion (US$1.4 billion), as compared to RMB5.0 billion for the same period last year.

The current macroeconomic development has certainties and uncertainties, of which what we feel certain and make preparation for is that the worst moment is basically over, and positive news will keep coming in the future, while what we are not sure is that the speed and strength of the future recovery, JD management told analysts on an earnings call on Friday.

The executives said it will take some time to see positive impact of economic development on consumption through incoming data, and JD is relatively more confident about overall growth next year. When communicating with brands, JD found that nearly all brands are more concerned about profits this year, because they predicted the geopolitical conflict that broke out in the beginning of the year would affect the supply chain of some categories. It is actually impossible to  give a very clear message now since what investment strategy JD will adopt next year is depend on expectations that the brand owners of various categories made on the current situation, whether profit, growth, or recovery of the global industry.

As to impact of the Covid-19, JD stated that what the logistics suffered this year is the most serious shock in the three years since pandemic. Given the Covid restrictions in China and statistics including sales in the annual promotion Singles’ Day, JD expected the cancellation rate of orders to be slightly higher than previous years, but the cancelled orders would be less than the e-commerce platforms driven by impulsive shopping, such as those focus on live streaming commerce.