JD.com has released its first annual report since entering the food delivery sector. As expected, the results present a mixed picture.
On March 5, JD.com reported its full-year 2025 financial results. The report shows that JD.com's annual revenue surpassed 1.3 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.97%. However, net profit was 19.631 billion yuan, down 52.54% compared to the previous year. In the fourth quarter of 2025, JD.com reported a loss of 2.7 billion yuan, whereas it had achieved a profit of 9.9 billion yuan in the same period last year. This marks JD.com's first quarterly loss since 2022.
The primary reason for the setback is undoubtedly the food delivery battle. In Q4 2025, JD.com's operating loss was 5.8 billion yuan, with an adjusted operating loss of 3.1 billion yuan. During this period, JD Retail's operating profit was 9.789 billion yuan, and JD Logistics contributed 1.884 billion yuan. In contrast, new businesses, primarily food delivery, incurred a loss of 14.8 billion yuan. The profits from retail were insufficient to cover the losses from new ventures. For the full year, the operating loss from new businesses widened significantly to 46.6 billion yuan.
Nevertheless, compared to peers like Meituan and Alibaba, JD.com's losses appear relatively contained. Meituan suffered the most significant impact. On February 13, Meituan issued a profit warning on the Hong Kong Exchange, projecting an annual loss between approximately 23.3 billion and 24.3 billion yuan for the last year, a stark contrast to its 35.8 billion yuan profit in 2024. This represents a dramatic swing of nearly 60 billion yuan. The core reason is the profit collapse in Meituan's most lucrative "Core Local Commerce" segment: this division reported an operating profit of about 52.415 billion yuan in 2024 but is expected to record an operating loss between 6.8 billion and 7 billion yuan in 2025. Meituan further anticipates the loss-making trend will persist into the first quarter of 2026 due to ongoing competition. From investors' perspective, JD.com's losses seem more acceptable, given the sustained support from its retail business.
Although the food delivery venture significantly impacted JD.com's net profit, last year's revenue and growth rates were notably strong. In 2025, JD.com's revenue growth stood out, not only exceeding 1.3 trillion yuan in total revenue but also achieving double-digit growth of 13%. The core revenue primarily stemmed from JD Retail. In 2025, JD Retail's quarterly operating profits were 12.8 billion yuan, 13.9 billion yuan, 14.8 billion yuan, and 9.8 billion yuan, respectively. The annual cumulative operating profit reached 51.4 billion yuan, a 22% increase year-on-year, representing over 10 billion yuan more profit than in 2024. The operating net profit margin improved from 4% in 2024 to 4.6%, demonstrating impressive profitability.
While the new businesses incurred substantial losses, they also contributed significantly to revenue growth. Last year, the revenue from JD.com's new businesses grew by 200.9%, becoming a key engine driving total revenue past the 1.3 trillion yuan mark.
However, the high profits were largely offset by even greater losses. The 51.4 billion yuan profit painstakingly earned by JD.com's main business was nearly erased by losses from new ventures, including food delivery.
Despite the fierce competition in the food delivery sector, JD.com has achieved some initial success. According to previously released data, JD Food Delivery garnered orders from over 240 million users in 2025, capturing more than 15% of the market share. This indicates JD.com has initially established a foothold, transforming the industry's previous duopoly into a three-player competition.
Since last year, JD.com has aggressively expanded into multiple new sectors. It first prominently announced its entry into food delivery, soon followed by a high-profile move into hotel and travel services with a "zero commission" model. Subsequently, it invested in three embodied AI companies, recruited talent for short-form videos with high salaries, and entered the hard discount supermarket space. These frequent moves undoubtedly represent a search for new growth avenues as traditional e-commerce growth plateaus.
JD.com's primary motivation for entering food delivery is to compete for this high-frequency traffic gateway and strategically position itself within the trillion-yuan instant retail market. The latest financial report structure suggests JD.com's strategy is yielding preliminary results.
JD.com's CEO, Sandy Xu, stated in the earnings report that while JD Food Delivery's scale is gradually expanding, its losses are narrowing quarter-by-quarter. Initiatives like JD Surprise and international business are opening new long-term growth opportunities. In the fourth quarter, synergies between JD Food Delivery and JD Retail were steadily emerging, with noticeable progress in user growth, shopping frequency, and cross-category purchasing behavior. Consequently, JD.com's business structure has become more diversified. The financial report indicates a significant increase in the proportion of service revenue, signaling JD.com is successfully deepening its transition towards a dual-driven "Products + Services" model, as initially strategized with the food delivery expansion.
The stock market reacted sharply to JD.com's mixed financial results. Following the report's release, JD.com's stock price opened higher and surged, at one point gaining over 9%, and closed up 9.95%. This surge increased its market capitalization by 30.9 billion Hong Kong dollars. JD Logistics saw an even more dramatic rise, soaring nearly 23%.
Investors and capital markets are expressing strong confidence in JD.com. However, the burden on founder Richard Liu is growing heavier. The financial report shows continued growth in JD.com's ecosystem employee count. By the end of 2025, including part-time employees, interns, and personnel from affiliated companies, the total number of individuals within JD.com's ecosystem exceeded 900,000. In contrast, the 2024 annual report indicated approximately 670,000 people, meaning the workforce grew by over 230,000 within a year, with the vast majority being delivery personnel. Notably, this figure remained largely unchanged compared to the mid-2025 report.
It is widely known that Richard Liu is a boss who "cares for his brothers." He has delivered orders alongside couriers, purchased social insurance for delivery personnel, and raised their wages... An additional 230,000 "brothers" in one year signifies substantially increased responsibility for Liu.
Having grown over nearly 28 years, JD.com is now a giant entity responsible for the livelihoods of 900,000 employees. Any misstep could have immeasurable consequences. For Richard Liu, these 900,000 employees represent both a burden and, perhaps, the driving force behind his continuous efforts.
Just days before the earnings release, JD Food Delivery posted on an internal platform expressing hope to achieve a 30% market share in 2026—effectively doubling last year's figure. Doubling market share while scaling back the food delivery battle and reducing losses is no simple task. How Richard Liu plans to achieve this goal remains to be seen.
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