Shares of PDD Holdings Inc. PDD shot up 10.2% in premarket trading Friday, after the mobile marketplace company reported big first-quarter profit and revenue beats, boosted by strength in online marketing and transaction services. Net income more than doubled to RMB8.10 billion ($1.18 billion), or RMB5.55 per American depositary share, from RMB2.60 billion, or RMB1.84 in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per ADS of RMB6.92 was well above the FactSet consensus of RMB4.46. Revenue grew 58.1% to RMB37.64 billion ($5.48 billion), to beat the FactSet consensus of RMB32.18 billion. Revenue from online marketing services increased 50% to RMB27.24 billion and transaction services revenue jumped 86% to RMB5.59 billion. Cost of sales rose less than revenue, up 55.4% to RMB11.13 billion, as gross margin improved to 70.4% from 69.9%. The stock, which closed Thursday at a 6 1/2-month low, has tumbled 28.3% over the past three months through Thursday, while the iShares MSCI China exchange-traded fund MCHI had lost 8.1% and the S&P 500 SPX has gained 4.6%.
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