JD.com Shares Rise After Q4 Results

Shares of

surged more than 3% in pre-market trading after the company reported results for the fourth quarter. The Shanghai, China-based company posted a quarterly net loss of RMB454.3 million (US$73.2 million), while non-GAAP net income came in at RMB83.8 million (US$13.5 million) in the quarter. Net loss per ADS narrowed to RMB0.33 (US$0.05) from RMB0.45 in the year-ago quarter, while non-GAAP net income per ADS came in at RMB0.06 (US$0.01) versus non-GAAP net loss per ADS of RMB0.04. Its revenue climbed 73% to RMB34.7 billion ($5.6 billion). However, analysts were expecting revenue of $5.3 billion. Marketing expenses rose 181% to RMB1.5 billion (US$0.2 billion) in the quarter, while technology and content expenses surged 124% to RMB618.9 million (US$99.8 million). In the twelve months ended December 31, 2014, annual active customer accounts jumped 104% to 96.6 million, compared to 47.4 million in the twelve months ended December 31, 2013. As of December 31, 2014, JD.com had RMB32.1 billion (US$5.2 billion) in cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments. "We recorded stronger than expected top line growth and healthy margin improvement in the fourth quarter, underscoring the success of our sustained emphasis on customer experience and operational efficiency," commented Sidney Huang, JD.com's Chief Financial Officer. "As we move into 2015, we will continue to invest in long-term growth, including enhancing our brand awareness, expanding our fulfillment capability and broadening our product offerings. We are confident that by focusing on building our reputation and market share we will further strengthen JD.com's position in 2015." For the first quarter, JD.com projects revenue of 34.8 billion yuan to 35.8 billion. JD.com shares gained 3.73% to $29.20 in pre-market trading.