Discount e-commerce giant PDD nearly doubles quarterly revenue, closing in on Alibaba as Meituan also chalks up growth

PDD Holdings, known for offering bargain prices on its Pinduoduo app in China and Temu in overseas markets, saw its revenue almost double in the third quarter of 2023 from a year ago, narrowing the gap between it and arch-rivals such as Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the South China Morning Post.

The online retailer, conceived in 2015 by founder Colin Huang Zheng as a provider of agricultural products and cheap consumer goods, on Tuesday reported a 94 per cent surge in third-quarter revenue to 68.8 billion yuan (US$9.6 billion), beating estimates, while its operating profit jumped 60 per cent to 16.7 billion yuan.

Revenue from “transaction services”, or the charges it collects from merchants for transactions on the platform, surged 315 per cent during the quarter.

In comparison, Alibaba reported sales of 224.8 billion yuan in the same quarter, up 9 per cent, while operating profit rose 34 per cent to 33.6 billion yuan. Rival JD.com reported 1.7 per cent growth in revenue to 247.7 billion yuan in the September quarter, while net income rose 33 per cent to 7.9 billion yuan.

PDD’s share price jumped 18 per cent in morning trading in New York, giving it a market value of over US$180 billion, edging closer to Alibaba’s current market cap of about US$200 billion.

Meanwhile, Chinese delivery services giant Meituan on Tuesday posted a 22 per cent jump in third-quarter revenue as a post-pandemic market rebound in the online food and travel segments contributed to growth.