A Turning Point for China ADRs? JD, Tencent, and Bilibili All Smash Earnings Forecasts

$JD.com(JD)$

China Tech Just Posted Its Biggest Collective Beat in Years. Is This the Turning Point Investors Have Been Waiting For?

Chinese tech stocks have spent nearly three years in a prolonged sentiment winter — defined by regulatory fear, geopolitical tension, and collapsing global fund exposure. But today, for the first time in a long time, China’s marquee digital platforms delivered something markets haven’t seen in unison: a broad, powerful, across-the-board earnings beat that exceeded even bullish expectations.

JD.com, Tencent, and Bilibili — three companies representing e-commerce, gaming, advertising, fintech, cloud, and online entertainment — each posted robust results that outshined the macro gloom narrative. JD.com recorded 14.9% revenue growth, Tencent saw 15% overall revenue expansion with an eye-catching 43% surge in international gaming, and Bilibili surprised with a 233% explosion in adjusted net profit as its multi-year restructuring begins paying off.

JD and Bilibili both traded notably higher in pre-market trading — a rare show of investor enthusiasm for China ADRs. But an even larger question hangs over the market:

Will Wall Street finally recognize the improving fundamentals of China’s tech giants, or will pessimism continue to overshadow performance?

Below is the full ~3,000-word deep dive.

The Most Synchronized China Tech Beat in Years

For the past few quarters, China’s tech landscape has been defined less by fundamentals and more by macro-driven narrative pressure:

  • China’s uneven consumer recovery

  • Regulatory uncertainty

  • Persistent geopolitical strain

  • A massive valuation gap vs. global peers

  • Relentless fund outflows from EM and China

This latest earnings round cuts through the noise.

All three companies demonstrated strong revenue growth, margin recovery, and bottom-line improvement simultaneously. That alone is unusual — Chinese tech stocks have posted mixed, inconsistent performance since late 2021, making today’s synchronized beat especially notable.

More importantly, each company’s growth came from core operating improvements, not one-off boosts. The quality of earnings matters here — and the quality this quarter was high.

Macro Backdrop: Why These Results Hit at a Critical Moment

China’s Growth Story Has Been Under Question

Global investors have spent the past year debating whether China’s economy is structurally slowing. Weak consumer sentiment, property-sector stress, and deflation fears led many analysts to adopt a more cautious stance. As a result:

  • Foreign holdings of Chinese equities hit multi-year lows.

  • Hedge funds and long-only institutions reduced exposure dramatically.

  • China’s share of global equity indices became increasingly underweighted.

  • Valuations compressed to historically distressed levels.

Against this backdrop, delivering strong earnings becomes doubly important — companies must fight not only operational challenges, but also a market psychology problem.

Stimulus Tailwinds Finally Starting to Help?

China’s policy environment has quietly shifted more supportive:

  • Lower reserve requirement ratios (RRR cuts)

  • Boosted fiscal support for consumption

  • Stabilization efforts in the property market

  • Targeted measures to support private enterprises

This quarter may be one of the first where incremental stimulus is showing up in consumption categories, online advertising, fintech activity, and gaming engagement.

U.S.–China Relations: A Slow, Uneasy Stabilization

While not fully improved, the diplomatic tone between the U.S. and China in recent months has softened from confrontation toward managed competition. This reduces some tail-risk pressure on ADRs — and Wall Street may slowly be noticing.

JD.com: A Return to Sustainable Growth and Margin Stability

JD’s 14.9% Revenue Surge Marks a Clear Reacceleration

JD.com delivered something analysts have been waiting for: real top-line acceleration driven by both consumer recovery and internal execution. The 14.9% revenue jump is one of JD’s best growth rates in recent years, significantly outperforming expectations.

Key drivers include:

  • Strong performance in JD Retail during shopping festivals

  • Growth in 3C appliances and discretionary categories

  • A renewed focus on high-frequency goods

  • Better cost control and logistics efficiency

  • Improved user engagement after a year of strategic repositioning

This is not the JD of 2022–2023 — the company has regained its operational rhythm.

A Leaner Cost Structure Supports Margin Expansion

JD has undergone a silent but impactful transformation. While competitors pursued aggressive subsidy wars, JD doubled down on efficiency:

  • Lower fulfillment costs

  • Streamlined warehousing

  • Higher turnover efficiency

  • More profitable category mix

  • A focus on everyday low-price strategy

The result? Margins expanded, pushing profitability higher at a time when consumer sentiment remains fragile. This reflects JD’s superior supply-chain moat — a competitive advantage increasingly valuable in a post-pandemic China.

JD Logistics and Services Businesses Continue Their Climb

Beyond retail, JD’s logistics unit continues to play the long game:

  • Expanding third-party fulfillment

  • Improving cross-border logistics

  • Serving enterprise clients

JD Logistics is becoming a “China Amazon Web Services equivalent” in its own domain — a foundational infrastructure business.

Meanwhile, JD’s service revenues are increasing as the platform shifts toward a more balanced model between 1P, 3P, and value-added services.

JD’s Valuation Remains One of the Cheapest in Global E-Commerce

Despite improving fundamentals, JD trades at:

  • A steep discount to Amazon

  • A discount to Alibaba

  • A discount to most global logistics peers

If JD maintains its growth trajectory for two more quarters, valuation rerating becomes hard to avoid.

Tencent: The Quiet Giant Is Growing Faster Than Expected Again

15% Revenue Growth Shows Tencent Is Rebuilding Momentum

Tencent’s 15% top-line increase is one of its most balanced and high-quality growth prints since 2020. Instead of relying heavily on a single pivot, Tencent saw strength across:

  • Advertising

  • Fintech

  • Overseas gaming

  • Domestic gaming stability

  • Cloud and enterprise services

This is exactly the kind of diversified growth profile long-term investors want to see.

International Gaming’s 43% Surge Is a Game-Changer

Tencent is frequently viewed as a China-centric company. But the reality is shifting rapidly.

A 43% YoY surge in international gaming signals:

  • Strength of Riot Games (League of Legends, Valorant)

  • Continued global pull for Supercell titles

  • Momentum in AAA content partnerships

  • Growing mobile penetration outside China

International gaming is becoming a major global profit engine for Tencent, representing its most internationally diversified revenue stream.

Advertising Rebounds Strongly as China’s Digital Ad Market Recovers

China’s online advertising market hit a cyclical bottom in 2023. This quarter, Tencent’s ad revenue climbed meaningfully, supported by:

  • Improved algorithmic ad targeting

  • Higher brand advertising budgets

  • Stronger ROI for merchants

  • AI-driven ad optimization

Tencent’s ad platform, powered by WeChat’s ecosystem depth, is regaining growth leadership.

Fintech and Cloud Maintain Double-Digit Expansion

Tencent’s fintech and business services division continues to expand at double-digit rates thanks to:

  • Higher WeChat Pay engagement

  • Payment volume growth

  • Expansion of enterprise cloud solutions

  • AI-as-a-service demand

This segment has quietly become Tencent’s most stable contributor.

Tencent’s AI Push Is Underappreciated

Tencent rarely markets its AI capabilities aggressively, but internally:

  • Foundation model development is ongoing

  • AI content generation for gaming is accelerating

  • AI-driven advertising has improved dramatically

  • Enterprise AI cloud is gaining traction

Long term, this could become a major revaluation driver.

Bilibili: The Most Dramatic Turnaround in China Tech

A Stunning 233% Jump in Adjusted Net Profit

After years of criticism over cash burn and unprofitability, Bilibili delivered a blockbuster quarter:

  • Profit improved 233%

  • Costs were cut dramatically

  • User retention rose

  • Advertising rebounded

  • Operational losses narrowed meaningfully

This is the kind of growth reacceleration that can re-rate a distressed stock.

Cost Discipline Is Finally Visible in the Financials

Bilibili has clearly shifted from “growth at all cost” to “smart growth”:

  • Lower content spending

  • Higher ad yield

  • Improved operating efficiency

  • Better monetization in core channels

  • Streamlined content operations

This is a leaner, more financially credible Bilibili.

Engagement Stabilizes as ACG Ecosystem Strengthens

Bilibili’s appeal remains rooted in:

  • Animation

  • Gaming

  • Comic culture

  • Livestreaming

  • Creator-driven content

As competition in the short-video space intensifies, Bilibili is carving out a sustainable niche — more like China’s YouTube/Twitch hybrid rather than trying to be another TikTok or Kuaishou.

A Long-Term High-Risk, High-Reward Asset

Bilibili still carries volatility, but if profitability continues to improve at this pace, the upside is substantial. This quarter shows that the platform can indeed survive and thrive.

Will Wall Street Reward These Earnings?

The Bear Case: Skepticism Runs Deep

Even with today’s impressive results, concerns remain:

  • Geopolitical tension still clouds the outlook

  • ADR delisting fears never fully disappeared

  • China’s economic recovery remains uneven

  • Global funds continue to underweight EM

Many U.S. investors believe Chinese equities carry a “structural discount” — one not easily reversed by a single earnings cycle.

The Bull Case: Valuations Are Too Compelling to Ignore

However, the bull narrative here is powerful:

  • Tencent trades below global gaming and cloud peers

  • JD trades significantly below Amazon and even Alibaba

  • Bilibili trades at distressed valuations despite turnaround progress

  • Revenue growth is accelerating across the board

  • Profitability is improving faster than expected

At some point, fundamentals must matter again — and these are unusually strong fundamentals.

Catalyst: Global Funds Are Massively Underweight China

If global macro sentiment improves even slightly — or geopolitical pressure eases — inflows could be dramatic. China tech is one of the most under-owned regions among global equity managers.

A small sentiment shift can create an outsized price reaction.

Verdict: Selective Buy — With China Risk Premium in Mind

Here is the investment takeaway, synthesized into a clear view:

1. Tencent (TCEHY): Strong Buy Zone (On Pullbacks)

Tencent’s fundamentals are too strong to justify its current discount. International gaming, fintech, and ads all have multi-year runway. Tencent remains the most resilient asset among China tech giants.

2. JD.com (JD): Attractive Buy-the-Dip Opportunity

JD’s supply-chain moat is strengthening. Revenue acceleration and margin recovery signal a sustainable rebound. JD remains undervalued relative to global peers.

3. Bilibili (BILI): High-Risk, High-Reward Accumulate Zone

Bilibili is not for conservative investors. But if the turnaround continues, upside could be substantial. Small, scaled positioning recommended.

Overall Recommendation

For investors comfortable with China’s geopolitical risk premium, this earnings cycle presents a compelling opportunity to accumulate high-quality Chinese tech assets trading at historically depressed valuations.

Conclusion: A Quiet Turning Point for China Tech?

This earnings cycle has delivered something rare: simultaneous strength across e-commerce, gaming, advertising, fintech, and user-generated content platforms.

The takeaway:

  • JD’s operational efficiency is improving

  • Tencent’s global gaming engine is accelerating

  • Bilibili’s profitability turnaround is real

  • Advertising demand is recovering

  • Consumer activity is stabilizing

  • Business services and cloud show momentum

  • China’s policy backdrop is more supportive than last year

For the first time since 2021, the fundamentals tell a coherent, optimistic story.

The real question now is not whether these companies can execute — they clearly can. The question is whether global investors will allow the fundamentals to matter again.

If sentiment shifts even modestly, this earnings season could be remembered as the moment the China tech winter finally began to thaw.

# PDD Beat but Dropped? Will You Buy Earnings Dip?

Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

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