JD.com Q4 Earnings Call: Takeout Investment Will Be Lower Than Last Year, Yanxi Large Model Usage Surges by a Hundredfold

JD.com Group Announces Q4 2025 and Full Year Results. Under the pressure of a high base, the company’s overall revenue demonstrated resilience, with continuous improvement in core retail profitability. The strong growth in comprehensive merchandise and platform marketing services revenue became key support.

The financial report shows that thanks to sustained efforts in comprehensive merchandise, third-party platform, and marketing businesses, the company effectively offset the impact of high bases in electronics and home appliances. CEO Xu Ran stated at the earnings conference that Q4 results met expectations and the full-year performance was steady.

Beyond key data, Xu Ran also revealed the latest progress of the instant retail business: as of the end of February 2026, JD’s “Qixian Xiaochu” stores exceeded 50 locations. Regarding the highly watched food delivery business, she said JD Waimai will continue to optimize operational efficiency while maintaining healthy scale growth, with expected reduced investment in 2026 compared to 2025.

Looking ahead to 2026, JD management is confident in achieving sustainable profit growth. The company will continue to deepen investments around supply chain capabilities, artificial intelligence technology, and new business layouts to strengthen core barriers and create long-term value for shareholders.

Core Retail: Profitability Expansion, Proactive Reinvestment Compresses Short-term Margins

In Q4, core retail achieved margin expansion, but management strategically reinvested part of the profits into price competitiveness—especially in electronics and home appliances—as well as R&D capabilities and talent reserves to solidify long-term competitive position.

Xu Ran stated that these reinvestments somewhat restrained retail profit margin expansion, but the impact was fully absorbed by improved margins in third-party platform businesses, marketing services, supermarkets, healthcare, and other segments.

At the category level, supermarket revenue saw strong double-digit growth with steady expansion in operating profit margins; fashion categories also achieved significant growth, covering apparel, frequent shopping, and full-category penetration. Management emphasized that these results were entirely driven by team execution, not external factors.

Platform and Marketing Revenue: Ad Demand Rebounds, Algorithm Upgrades Improve Conversion Efficiency

Marketing services revenue grew 15% in Q4 and 18.1% for the full year, becoming a key driver of overall growth. Management attributed this to optimized traffic allocation, improved conversion efficiency, and comprehensive upgrades to “11-hour algorithms” and intelligent proxy tools launched for merchants and brands.

Xu Ran said more brands are shifting budgets to JD.com, viewing it as a high-return platform for daily sales and brand building, as well as the preferred sales channel for full lifecycle products.

In comprehensive merchandise categories, most achieved strong double-digit growth, with marketing expense ratios optimized to about 4%, reflecting ongoing focus on long-term profitability.

Food Delivery Business: Continued Narrowing of Losses, User and Merchant Scale Expands Simultaneously

The instant food delivery business maintained stable order growth in Q4, while further optimizing investment scale, with quarterly investments down nearly 20% sequentially. Management noted that since launch, losses have been continuously reduced each quarter, demonstrating improved operational leverage and refined investment management.

From an ecosystem perspective, the delivery business significantly increased JD’s overall shopping frequency, with active users growing over 3% year-over-year, covering new and existing users across all consumption levels. Additionally, the total number of active merchants on the platform increased by over 270%, with improved merchant quality also a key factor.

Management expects that in 2026, investment efficiency in the delivery business will further improve compared to 2025, and commits to maintaining healthy growth while continuously optimizing unit economics.

AI Layout: Self-developed Large Models Deploy Over 1,000 Applications, AI Proxy GMV Contributes Billions

In AI application development, JD’s self-developed large language model “Yanxi” supports over 1,000 real-world scenarios, covering customer experience, procurement, merchant services, and operations. In 2025, JD AI-related token call volume surged nearly 100 times compared to 2024, boosting decision-making efficiency across the company.

In shopping experience, AI search and recommendation capabilities continue to upgrade, with AI proxies (AI Agents) serving over 150 million active users in 2025, with a user penetration rate exceeding 20%, driving billions in GMV. Management expects the AI proxy user base to double in 2026.

On the logistics front, JD’s unmanned delivery continues to deepen deployment, and within the year, automated delivery capabilities were expanded to the UK market for the first time, providing high-quality next-day delivery services locally. Management believes AI will be a new growth frontier in 2026 and beyond, with the company already leading in multiple dimensions.

New Business and Internationalization: Instant Retail and Penetration Markets Advance in Tandem

Regarding new business progress, JD Daojia’s instant retail platform continues to penetrate into lower-tier markets, expanding both user base and market share. Management stated that the company aims to redefine local shopping experiences through same-day and next-day delivery services, viewing this as an important long-term growth area.

International business also proceeds according to plan. Overall, management expressed clear confidence in the 2026 business outlook, affirming commitment to sustainable profit growth and ongoing strengthening of supply chain core capabilities and technological barriers to maximize long-term shareholder value.

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