11:40 AM EST, 03/06/2024 (MT Newswires) -- JD.com ( JD ) shares soared Wednesday, propelled by fourth-quarter results that surpassed expectations as the Chinese e-commerce company focused on price competitiveness and disclosed plans for a $3 billion share buyback program.

The supply chain technology and service provider said low-price initiatives helped bolster sales for merchants and brands in its retail segment. The efforts contributed to revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31 rising to 306.08 billion renminbi ($42.52 billion) from 295.45 billion renminbi a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Capital IQ expected 299.47 billion renminbi.

Net income rose to 5.30 renminbi per American depository share from 4.81 renminbi a year earlier. Wall Street was looking for 4.53 renminbi.

"We've seen an accelerated growth in quarterly shopping users in (the fourth quarter), especially in the new number of new users and we expect the growth trend to continue in (the first quarter)," Chief Executive Sandy Ran Xu told analysts on a conference call, according to Capital IQ transcript. "We continue to optimize procurement costs and expand our range of low-cost products." In addition, the company has introduced a series of measures, including the 10 billion renminbi discount program, items with free shipping channels and a lower order value threshold for free shipping, she said.

"We believe that continuous improvement of user experience will promote healthy user growth and purchase frequency, which in turn will help us increase business scale and market share," she said. Consumers have become "more rational in spending," said Xu.

JD.com ( JD ) shares listed on the Nasdaq jumped nearly 17% during Wednesday's session.

The company is working on expanding internationally, Xu said. Its outbound e-commerce platform JD Retail is aiding Chinese companies in broadening their business and brands to overseas markets while its JD Property segment is expanding in Southeast Asia and Europe in markets including the UK, Vietnam, and Singapore, she said. "Supply chain is the cornerstone of our international business development and we will continue to focus on this to expand our capabilities on the global market," she said.

JD.com ( JD ) said its new $3 billion share repurchase program will become effective on March 17 and run through March 2027.

The company said its board has approved an annual cash dividend for 2023 of $0.76 per ADS. That's higher than the annual dividend of $0.62 per ADS for 2022.

Price: 25.22, Change: +3.78, Percent Change: +17.63