9 key takeaways from Pinduoduo's 25Q3 earnings report

Today was quite unlucky, I didn't catch the high-speed train, and wasn't allowed to change or refund the ticket. I intermittently listened to the earnings call on the way, and surprisingly, my mood improved a bit.

Although people kept complaining that it was all nonsense, just the same old rhetoric repeated. But you know what? After listening to a few more earnings calls, it actually started to resemble watching an Apple product launch. No matter how the market changes, Pinduoduo always talks about users and how to meet consumer needs.

1. Just because competition is fierce, we shouldn't become 'competition-oriented,' just like we shouldn't become 'merchant-oriented' just because merchants are scarce... We must always put users first—this aligns with first principles and common sense. Management made this very clear and indirectly addressed analysts' concerns about 'intensifying competition.'

2. Q3 revenue was 108.3 billion yuan, up 9% year-over-year. Online marketing revenue was 53.3 billion yuan, up 8%, while transaction services revenue was 54.9 billion yuan, up 10%. Considering Pinduoduo's 'Billion Subsidies' program for merchants, these subsidies—real cash outlays—are not counted as revenue, so the actual revenue growth rate is somewhat opaque and likely understated.

3. Pinduoduo doesn’t disclose GMV growth publicly, but I estimate it’s roughly 70% of Douyin’s e-commerce growth. Douyin is undeniably the growth engine in the broader e-commerce landscape, but growth is one thing, and customer retention is another. Some group members shared that Pinduoduo’s domestic GMV growth is around 18%, though these are just one-sided guesses.

4. By the end of Q3, Pinduoduo held about 423.8 billion yuan in cash, roughly one-third of its current market cap. Compared to 331.6 billion yuan at the end of last year, it added 92.2 billion in nine months—equivalent to Meituan’s three-year pre-food-delivery-war profits.

5. The earnings call started with 'benfen'—a term with no perfect English translation, so they just called it 'benfen.' Duan Yongping also mentioned this, saying any translation loses its essence. To me, 'benfen' is the 'Dao' in Duan Yongping’s 'simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.'

6. Management said Pinduoduo’s to make e-commerce 'more inclusive, open, and people-centric.' Think about it—has Pinduoduo brought enough change in this regard over the years? Actions speak louder than words; the answer is clear.

7. As for the impact of competitors’ instant retail wars, Pinduoduo’s answer is 'long-termism + differentiation,' still focusing on user needs. In a recent interview with Fang Sanwen, you’ll notice Duan Yongping has his own strong logic and won’t be swayed—Pinduoduo’s management is similar.

8. Temu’s core goal is 'long-term healthy development,' so it will invest more in compliance, improve problematic product detection, monitor global risks in real-time, and prevent zero-risk scenarios. Nothing much to say here—if the world were a unified market, I’d be laughing in my dreams.

9. High-quality merchants now have a clearer role in Pinduoduo’s ecosystem as 'core partners serving consumers.' The first question in entrepreneurship: Who are our 'partners,' and who are our enemies? Pinduoduo has always answered this well—not all merchants are 'partners.'

Although I’m satisfied with the earnings and the call, tonight’s stock price is still quite a challenge.

I’ve 'been through countless battles'—tonight’s little dip is nothing new. Focus on your position size; stock prices are temporary, and paper gains or losses are just noise.

The only real loss is the missed high-speed train—that 600 yuan is gone forever. (Cry)

$PDD(PDD.US)