Temu Owner PDD Posts Slowest Revenue Growth Since Early 2022
Fourth-quarter revenue climbed 24% to 110.61 billion yuan, equivalent to $15.30 billion, but missed estimates.
Fourth-quarter revenue climbed 24% to 110.61 billion yuan, equivalent to $15.30 billion, but missed estimates.
The Chinese owner of bargain app Temu reported slower quarterly profit and revenue growth, capping a turbulent year for the e-commerce giant as it faced stiff competition at home, geopolitical tensions abroad and U.S. tariff uncertainties.
PDD Holdings on Thursday said fourth-quarter revenue climbed 24% to 110.61 billion yuan, equivalent to $15.30 billion, missing a Visible Alpha estimate of 117.83 billion yuan. It was the slowest pace of growth since the first quarter of 2022.
Net profit rose 18% from a year earlier to 27.45 billion yuan, topping analysts’ expectations of 27.00 billion yuan. However, the growth was slower than the 61% rise in the third quarter and the more than twofold increase a year earlier.
“Looking ahead, we will continue to prioritize investments in the platform ecosystem as the cornerstone of our long-term value creation strategy,” said Jun Liu, PDD’s vice president of finance.
Jefferies analysts in a note said PDD’s top-line miss was due to slower-than-expected revenue growth from transaction services, while revenue from online marketing services and others was in line with consensus.
The easing momentum contrasted sharply with the stunning growth rates the company delivered in past years. PDD last year repeatedly warned of a slowdown, pointing to intensifying competition and external challenges.
Pinduoduo, the company’s discount platform in China, has grown rapidly since it launched nearly a decade ago, taking market share from e-commerce stalwarts Alibaba and JD.com . Its sister platform Temu burst onto the international scene in 2022 and swiftly gained attention in the U.S., attracting customers with low prices.
However, Temu has also encountered regulatory scrutiny as it expands overseas. U.S. President Trump in February delayed his plan to end a provision for China imports that lets platforms avoid paying import duties and customs inspections on low-value packages, offering the likes of Temu a brief reprieve.
For the full year, PDD’s total revenue rose 59% to 393.84 billion yuan and net profit climbed 87% to 60.03 billion yuan.
Last month, rival Alibaba posted its fastest pace of revenue growth since late 2023, with revenue for the latest quarter rising 7.6% to 280 billion yuan. Online retailer JD.com earlier this month nearly tripled its quarterly net profit as revenue climbed 13% to 346.99 billion yuan.
U.S.-listed PDD was recently 6.5% lower in premarket trading after the results.
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Market downdrafts tempt people to adjust their investments, but that’s not always a wise choice.
Market downdrafts tempt people to adjust their investments, but that’s not always a wise choice.
If you logged on to your brokerage account today and wish you hadn’t, you’re not alone.
BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink said Monday the asset manager hasn’t received this many client calls since March 2020, when the pandemic was beginning.
Retail brokerages including Fidelity Investments had technical glitches Monday morning as traffic surged from people trying to check their portfolios
Studies have found that the more people look at their 401(k)s, the lower their long-term returns are likely to be.
The S&P 500 drops on almost half of trading days, so checking your portfolio more often means you are more likely to see losses. And there have been lots of losses since President Trump rolled out a series of tariffs last week.
In just two trading days last week, the average 401(k) lost 7% of its value, according to Alight Solutions , which tracks employer retirement plans
That’s understandable, but not necessarily wise. Here are some things financial advisers say to keep in mind right now:
Now that the S&P 500 is down almost 20% from its peak, many people are realizing that their risk tolerance isn’t as high as they thought it was when markets were up 20%, said Chelsea Ransom-Cooper, chief financial planning officer at Zenith Wealth Partners in New York.
“It’s a great time to level-set and reflect on what you’re comfortable with,” she said. However, if you decide to make changes, you should tweak a little at a time to avoid making emotional decisions you regret later, she said.
In general, you should avoid the impulse to sell when the value of your investments falls, said Martin Lowenthal, financial adviser in Needham, Mass.
He has been telling his clients to stay the course and advising that they pull money from alternative sources such as life insurance plans if they need liquidity in the short-term.
“You shouldn’t be drawing from depressed assets if you have other places to go for income,” he said.
However, falling stock prices can create opportunities to save on taxes. If you find yourself with stocks or funds that are worth less than what you paid for them, you may be able to recognize the losses for tax purposes. Selling at a loss and reinvesting the money can help offset taxes on future capital gains while remaining invested in the market.
There may be reasons to add to investments, financial advisers say, especially if you have been sitting on cash. Cash losses value to inflation, which is expected to rise as companies digest new tariffs.
With markets starting to price in rate cuts , now might be a good time to lock in returns with fixed-rate products such as certificates of deposits or bonds, Ransom-Cooper said.
If you are younger and have a longer investment horizon, you can consider making small investments into the stock market at regular time intervals to take advantage of a potential rebound while managing risk.
“If you are concerned about inflation, you want to make sure that your money is at least trying to keep up,” she said.
This isn’t the first time the market has tested investors’ stomach for risk, and history says it won’t be the last. There was the financial crisis, then there was the pandemic, and “this time, it’s the tariff tantrum,” Lowenthal said.
“I’ve got full faith in the American economy to ride this out,” he said.
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