By Arsheeya Bajwa and Casey Hall
May 27 (Reuters) - Chinese e-commerce firm PDD Holdings ( PDD )
missed Wall Street estimates for first-quarter revenue
on Tuesday, as its domestic platform suffered from persistently
weak consumer sentiment and its international business was hit
by global trade uncertainty.
U.S.-listed shares of the company fell more than 15% in
premarket trading.
Despite deep price cuts by retailers and government stimulus
measures to boost spending, a prolonged property crisis in the
world's second-largest economy has cast a shadow over consumer
spending in China, even on PDD's Pinduoduo, which has
out-performed peers with its low-price focus.
China's largest online e-commerce platforms - Alibaba ( BABA )
, Pinduoduo and JD.com ( JD ) - have been scrambling
for a greater share of the domestic market, sparking a
long-running price war to entice consumers to open their
wallets.
Alibaba's ( BABA ) quarterly revenue also missed estimates, although
JD.com ( JD ) notched a beat, buoyed by a government trade-in scheme
focused on its strongest categories, including home appliances
and electronics.
Both Pinduoduo and global site Temu leverage PDD's extensive
network of suppliers in China to provide products at low prices.
PDD reported revenue of 95.67 billion yuan ($13.30 billion)
for the quarter ended March 31, compared with analysts' average
estimate of 102.51 billion yuan, according to data compiled by
LSEG.
Net income fell 47% to 14.74 billion yuan from 28 billion
yuan a year earlier.
The United States and China's tit-for-tat tariff escalation,
followed by a temporary 90-day de-escalation has generated
widespread uncertainty.
The U.S. earlier this month slashed tariff rates for goods
from China valued at under $800 entering the country under the
"de minimis" provision, a trade exemption leveraged by Temu to
avoid tariffs and keep prices low. But shifting global trade
policy might make it difficult for Temu to avoid price increases
in future.
($1 = 7.1949 Chinese yuan renminbi)