JD.com reported Q4 numbers on Thursday that tell a stark story: instead of the 9.9 billion yuan profit from a year ago, there is now a net loss of 2.7 billion yuan ($391 million).
Revenue: +1.5% to 352.3 billion yuan ($50.4 billion), slightly beating analyst estimates.
The details
The core business of electronics and home appliances shrank by 12% compared with the same quarter last year.
The other side: General Merchandise grew by 12.1%, services revenue by 20.1%.
But the real cost driver sits elsewhere. JD.com’s new business areas, especially food delivery and the Europe expansion Joybuy, led to an operating loss of 14.8 billion yuan in Q4. In the same quarter last year it was 885 million yuan.
Free cash flow for the full year: only 6.5 billion yuan, after 43.7 billion the year before.
JD.com is nevertheless paying $1.4 billion in dividends and has spent $3 billion on share buybacks (6.3% of outstanding shares).
百亿补贴: The expensive copycat program
百亿补贴 (Bǎi Yì Bǔ Tiē), literally “10-Billion Subsidy”, was invented by Pinduoduo in mid-2019.
The idea: subsidize branded products like iPhones and AirPods directly on the platform to pull customers from Tier-1 cities away from JD and Taobao. Pinduoduo grew revenue by 65% as a result.
Founder Richard Liu copied the program under the same name, provided $1.4 billion, and built in a price comparison tool that shows live prices from Pinduoduo, Taobao, Douyin and Kuaishou, with double reimbursement if JD is more expensive.
The problem: Beijing’s trade-in subsidies, which still amounted to 300 billion yuan in 2025, were cut to 250 billion yuan for 2026, and subsidies for home appliances were also significantly restricted.
👉 Sources: Caixin, JD.com IR, Reuters
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