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On August 27th, JD.com's U.S. stocks surged straight up before the market opened, starting the day with a gap higher. As of the time of writing, the increase was 3.33%.

In terms of news, JD Group has once again officially announced a large-scale share repurchase plan: it will implement a share repurchase plan of no more than $5 billion within the next 36 months.

Announcement of $5 Billion Share Repurchase Plan

According to JD.com's announcement on August 27th, its board of directors has approved a new share repurchase plan effective from September 2024. Under the new share repurchase plan, the company may repurchase shares (including American Depositary Shares) valued at no more than $5 billion within the next 36 months ending in August 2027.

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JD.com stated that the company's proposed repurchase will be carried out based on market conditions and applicable rules and regulations, and may be conducted from time to time in the open market at prevailing market prices, through private negotiations, block trades, and/or other methods permitted by law. The board of directors will regularly review the share repurchase plan and may authorize adjustments to its terms and size.

Previously, on March 6th of this year, JD.com announced in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that the board of directors had approved a new share repurchase plan, which will take effect after the company's existing share repurchase plan expires on March 17, 2024. Under the new share repurchase plan, the company may repurchase shares valued at no more than $3 billion within the next 36 months ending in March 2027.

Prior to this, on August 21st, JD.com had announced in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it spent approximately $390 million to repurchase its shares on August 21, 2024, and had fully utilized the repurchase limit of the $3 billion share repurchase plan approved in March 2024.

Walmart's Reduction in Stake Attracts Attention

Last week, JD.com was subjected to a clearance reduction by its second-largest shareholder, Walmart. Previously, Walmart held 9.4% of JD.com's equity, and this reduction involved shares valued at approximately $3.74 billion.

On the evening of August 21st, JD Group issued an announcement stating that the company was aware that Walmart Inc. and its affiliated company Walmart had filed a Schedule 13G/A with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 20, 2024, U.S. Eastern Time, regarding Walmart's sale of company shares. According to the Schedule 13G/A, as of that day, Walmart no longer held equity in the company. Affected by the news of Walmart's clearance reduction, JD.com's Hong Kong stock price once plummeted by 12% on August 21st.In June 2016, JD.com officially announced the establishment of a "global strategic cooperation" relationship with Walmart. As part of the strategic cooperation, the two parties had agreed on a non-competition arrangement for a period of 8 years, which has now expired.

According to sources close to JD.com, over the 8 years of cooperation, both parties have achieved significant results in their respective strategic goals, setting a model for mutually beneficial cooperation. Walmart has completed its e-commerce layout in China, while JD.com has expanded its global supply chain capabilities. The business cooperation between the two sides has always been very smooth, and changes in equity investment will not affect any business cooperation at any level. The two sides remain each other's important strategic partners and are willing to continue to maintain close business cooperation to expand their business in domestic and international markets.

Increasing Investment in Live Streaming Business

Recently, JD.com's moves in the live streaming business have also attracted market attention.

On August 26, JD.com announced that it would increase its investment by 1 billion yuan in cash and traffic resources per month, focusing on high-quality live streaming service providers and talents. At the same time, JD.com will also introduce industry experts, well-known artists, and other expert-level certified talents in 15 popular fields, providing tens of millions of yuan in cash and hundreds of millions of traffic for targeted support.

This year, JD.com has been very active in the live streaming business.

In April of this year, JD.com announced an investment of 1 billion yuan in cash and 1 billion yuan in traffic as rewards, with no upper limit, to attract more original authors and high-quality content organizations to settle in. During the "6.18" period, JD.com's live streaming once again invested in cash and traffic support to motivate cooperative organizations and creators.

On the evening of August 15, JD.com Group disclosed the second quarter and mid-term performance report for 2024. Under the non-U.S. GAAP, the net profit attributable to the ordinary shareholders of the listed company reached 14.5 billion yuan in the second quarter, a year-on-year increase of 69.0%, and the net profit margin reached 5.0% for the first time.

In addition, in the first half of this year, JD Health's total revenue was 28.3 billion yuan, with a net profit of 2.64 billion yuan under the non-IFRS indicator, a year-on-year increase of 8.5%, and a net profit margin of 9.3%, setting a new high for the semi-annual performance since its listing.

JD Logistics released the mid-term performance report for 2024 on August 15: In the first half of the year, the company achieved a total revenue of 86.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11%, and the adjusted net profit was 3.12 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of more than 26 times.