China's Pinduoduo beats quarterly revenue estimates

Chinese e-commerce platform Pinduoduo Inc's quarterly revenue beat Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, driven by steady demand for online shopping following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Total revenue more than tripled to 22.17 billion yuan ($3.47 billion)in the first quarter, boosted by Pinduoduo's online marketing services revenue. Analysts on average had expected revenue of 20.2 billion yuan, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

The interactive buying platform's net loss attributable to shareholders narrowed to 2.91 billion yuan in the quarter ended March 31, from 4.12 billion yuan a year earlier.

Active buyers on Pinduoduo in the 12-month period ended March rose 31% to about 824 million, outpacing Alibaba's 811 million.

Pinduoduo stock surged more than 3% in premarket trading.

First Quarter 2021 Highlights

• Total revenues in the quarter were RMB22,167.1 million (US$13,383.4 million), an increase of 239% from RMB6,541.1 millionin the same quarter of 2020.
• Average monthly active users in the quarter was 724.6 million, an increase of 49% from 487.4 million in the same quarter of 2020.
• Active buyers in the twelve-month period endedMarch 31, 2021was 823.8 million, an increase of 31% from 628.1 million in the twelve-month period endedMarch 31, 2020.
• Operating loss in the quarter was RMB4,147.0 million(US$633.0 million), compared with operating loss of RMB4,397.2 millionin the same quarter of 2020.Non-GAAP4 operating loss in the quarter wasRMB 3,174.1 million(US$484.5 million), compared with operating loss ofRMB3,587.9 millionin the same quarter of 2020.
• Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders in the quarter was RMB2,905.4 million(US$ 443.5 million), compared with RMB4,119.3 millionin the same quarter of 2020.Non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders in the quarter was RMB1,890.3 million(US$288.5 million), compared withRMB3,169.6 millionin the same quarter of 2020.

“Our growing scale gives us both greater capacity and responsibility to live up to our mission to ‘benefit all’,” said Mr.Lei Chen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer ofPinduoduo. “We envisionPinduoduoas a platform that not only facilitates the trading of goods and services but also serves as a conduit for turning ideas into solutions to everyday problems.”

“We remain laser-focused on serving our users and anticipating what they need, and doing so in a way that is respectful of the community and environment,” added Mr.David Liu, Vice President of Strategy. “We will continue to engage our users, merchants and partners in improving all aspects of our services.”

“We continued to deliver strong results in the first quarter and remain disciplined,” said Mr.Tony Ma, Vice President of Finance. “Our total revenues, excluding contribution from merchandise sales, for the first quarter 2021 increased 161% from the prior year, while our non-GAAP operating and net losses narrowed at the same time.”

First Quarter 2021 Unaudited Financial Results

Total revenueswereRMB22,167.1 million(US$3,383.4 million), an increase of 239% fromRMB6,541.1 millionin the same quarter of 2020. The increase was primarily due to an increase in revenues from online marketing services and contribution from merchandise sales.

• Revenues from online marketing services and otherswereRMB14,111.5 million(US$2,153.8 million), an increase of 157% fromRMB5,492.3 millionin the same quarter of 2020.
• Revenues from transaction serviceswereRMB2,931.5 million(US$447.4 million), an increase of 180% fromRMB1,048.8 millionin the same quarter of 2020.
• Revenues from merchandise saleswereRMB5,124.1 million(US$782.1 million), an increase ofRMB5,124.1 millionfrom nil in the same quarter of 2020.

Total costs of revenueswereRMB10,746.1 million(US$1,640.2 million), an increase of 487% fromRMB1,830.2 millionin the same quarter of 2020. The increase was mainly due to costs attributable to merchandise sales, higher cost of payment processing fees, cloud services fees, and delivery and storage fees.

Total operating expenseswereRMB15,568.0 million(US$2,376.1 million), compared withRMB9,108.0 millionin the same quarter of 2020.

• Sales and marketing expenseswereRMB12,997.4 million(US$1,983.8 million), an increase of 78% fromRMB7,296.6 millionin the same quarter of 2020, mainly due to an increase in advertising expenses and promotion and coupon expenses.
• General and administrative expenseswereRMB351.9 million(US$53.7 million), an increase of 4% fromRMB338.3 millionin the same quarter of 2020.
• Research and development expenseswereRMB2,218.7 million(US$338.6 million), an increase of 51% fromRMB1,473.2 millionin the same quarter of 2020. The increase was primarily due to an increase in headcount and the recruitment of more experienced R&D personnel and an increase in R&D-related cloud services expenses.

Operating losswasRMB4,147.0 million(US$633.0 million), compared with operating loss ofRMB4,397.2 millionin the same quarter of 2020.Non-GAAP operating losswasRMB3,174.1 million(US$484.5 million), compared with operating loss ofRMB3,587.9 millionin the same quarter of 2020.

Net loss attributable to ordinary shareholderswasRMB2,905.4 million(US$443.5 million), compared withRMB4,119.3 millionin the same quarter of 2020.Non-GAAP net loss attributable to ordinary shareholderswasRMB1,890.3 million(US$288.5 million), compared withRMB3,169.6 millionin the same quarter of 2020.

Basic and diluted net loss per ADSwereRMB2.33(US$0.36), compared withRMB3.54in the same quarter of 2020.Non-GAAP basic and diluted net loss per ADSwereRMB1.52(US$0.23), compared withRMB2.73in the same quarter of 2020.

Net cash flow used in operating activitieswasRMB3,724.5 million(US$568.5 million), compared withRMB567.1 millionin the same quarter of 2020, primarily due to an increase in restricted cash outflow due to seasonality, offset by increase in online marketing services revenues.

Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investmentswereRMB83.4 billion(US$12.7 billion) as ofMarch 31, 2021, compared withRMB87.0 billionas ofDecember 31, 2020.

Recent Development

As ofApril 30, 2021,US$756.4 millionof the 0% convertible bonds due in 2024 have been converted into newly issued ADSs.