Temu Owner PDD Posts Tepid Revenue Growth, Flags Volatility Ahead — Update

By Tracy Qu

The Chinese owner of bargain-shopping app Temu continued to deliver single-digit revenue growth as the company navigates a challenging business environment, warning of more volatility ahead.

PDD Holdings said Tuesday that revenue increased 9.0% from a year earlier to 108.28 billion yuan, equivalent to $15.23 billion, with net profit rising 17% to 29.33 billion yuan.

Analysts had expected net profit of 22.46 billion yuan on revenue of 108.705 billion yuan, according to a FactSet consensus.

"Revenues growth continued to moderate, reflecting the ongoing evolution of the competitive landscape and external uncertainties," said Liu Jun, PDD's vice president of finance.

The mixed performance comes as PDD has been facing some headwinds after years of breakneck growth. Its revenue growth has decelerated sharply as the company shifts its approach to focus on supporting merchants and the sustainable development of its platforms.

The discount retailer on Tuesday said its financial results could continue to fluctuate from quarter to quarter as more merchant support initiatives and ecosystem investments are rolled out.

Temu, PDD's overseas business, and rival Shein have been hit hard by the end of the de minimis exemption--a tariff loophole that previously allowed low-value goods to enter the U.S. duty-free and significantly benefited these cross-border e-commerce sites. Temu has adopted various strategies to remain competitive amid uncertain trade policies, such as encouraging merchants to stockpile goods in U.S. warehouses.

Analysts at Citi said that Temu has experienced a rebound in U.S. sales and maintained solid momentum in Europe. Temu's global monthly active users on Apple devices rose 42% in September, according to a recent note from Citi.

PDD doesn't break out revenue for Temu. The bulk of its sales comes from China, according to analysts.

At home, the company's Pinduoduo business faces fierce competition from e-commerce giants Alibaba Group and JD.com, as well as ByteDance's Douyin, the sister app to TikTok in China.

Weak Chinese consumer sentiment is another hurdle. While data showed that sales grew modestly during this year's Singles' Day--a major shopping event in China spanning weeks--the improvement wasn't enough to dispel concerns that tepid consumer spending will continue to drag on the economy, analysts said.

U.S.-listed securities of PDD have risen nearly 50% since a low in April, bolstered by broad positive sentiment on technology stocks. The company's American depositary receipts were recently 3.3% lower in premarket trading after the earnings release.

Write to Tracy Qu at tracy.qu@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 18, 2025 08:38 ET (13:38 GMT)