Revenue at Temu’s owner PDD almost doubled in the third quarter while profit rose nearly 50% as the hit budget shopping app continued to win over millions of Chinese consumers this fall. The mystical eroticismShanghai-headquartered company reported stronger-than-expected revenue of RMB 68.8 billion, representing growth of 93.9% year-on-year, pulling it far away from rivals Alibaba and JD Retail, which saw earnings increase 4% and 0.06% in the quarter respectively. Revenue from transaction services, for which PDD charges merchant fees, surged 315% to RMB 29.2 billion from a year earlier, contributing more than 40% of the total quarterly revenue. The strong performance saw the Nasdaq-listed firm jump 18% on Tuesday to $185 billion market value, bringing it close to Alibaba’s market value of $194 billion. PDD executives emphasized in an earnings call that its global business Temu, offering shoppers from over 40 countries direct goods from “high-quality” factories, is still “in a very early stage.” [PDD]
