10:37 AM EDT, 08/25/2025 (MT Newswires) -- PDD Holdings' ( PDD ) second-quarter earnings fell year over year amid intense competition, but exceeded market views, while the Chinese e-commerce platform flagged near-term profitability challenges as it continues to invest in merchant support measures.

Non-GAAP earnings fell to 22.07 renminbi ($3.08) per American depositary share in the June quarter from 23.24 renminbi a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected 15.53 renminbi.

"We invested significant resources in rolling out a comprehensive suite of merchant support measures," Jiazhen Zhao, co-chief executive, said in a statement.

PDD launched a 100 billion renminbi program to support the merchants ecosystem following a rapid change in the external environment in the first half of the year, co-Chief Executive Lei Chen said on a conference call, according to a FactSet transcript.

Revenue of PDD, which owns the Pinduoduo social commerce platform in China and the Temu online marketplace, rose 7% to 103.98 billion renminbi and surpassed the 102.72 billion renminbi consensus estimate.

"(Revenue) growth further moderated this quarter amid intense competition," Jun Liu, vice president of finance at PDD, said in the statement. "As we remain focused on long-term value creation, the sustained investments may continue to weigh on short-term profitability."

The company previously reported 10% year-over-year revenue growth for the first quarter and an 86% topline surge in the second quarter of 2024. Its Nasdaq-listed American depositary receipts were up 2% in Monday trade.

Revenue from online marketing services grew 13% year on year to 55.7 billion renminbi in the second quarter. Transaction services revenue increased to 48.28 billion renminbi from 47.94 billion renminbi in the prior-year quarter.

Total operating expenses rose 5%, according to the company.

"We prioritize long-term value creation over short-term financial results," Chen told analysts. "Our focus remains on investing for the long term, such as strengthening the ecosystem, driving value chain upgrade and delivering tangible benefits to our consumers."

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