PDD Holdings Inc reported steady double-digit revenue growth for the fourth quarter and full year of 2025. However, amid intense industry competition and a complex global regulatory environment, the company has explicitly announced it will proactively sacrifice short-term profits to heavily reinvest in its supply chain with an "all-in" approach, aiming to effectively "rebuild another PDD" over the next three years.
Key executives, including Co-Chairman and Co-CEO Chen Lei, Co-CEO Zhao Jiazhen, and CFO Li Jiong, participated in the subsequent earnings call. During the hour-long discussion, management provided clear strategic direction on hot-button issues of high concern to the market, including growth deceleration, profit margin volatility, and compliance challenges for its global operations.
While revenue remained robust, both quarterly and annual net profits saw a year-on-year decline. Co-CEO Zhao Jiazhen directly addressed this sensitive metric, attributing the profit decrease primarily to the company's ongoing investments in both the supply and demand sides. He stated that compared to short-term performance, the company prioritizes the long-term value generated by reinvesting back into the ecosystem. He revealed initiatives like a pioneering hundred-billion-yuan merchant support strategy and covering secondary logistics fees for "delivery-to-village" orders, which directly impacted current profits.
Looking ahead, management dismissed blind expansion or diversification as the path forward. Instead, Zhao Jiazhen outlined a focused strategy centered on deep internal excavation of the supply chain. He declared the company's strategic focus is not on business diversification but on high-quality supply chain development, leveraging long-accumulated advantages to achieve a platform-wide rebuild. He expressed confidence in having the opportunity to "rebuild another PDD" within three years through heavy supply chain investment. Specific programs like "Duo Duo Premium Specialties" and "New Quality Supply" have been launched to support merchants across the entire product lifecycle, from R&D to sales.
Addressing regulatory challenges facing its global business, Co-CEO Chen Lei acknowledged receiving inquiries from regulators. He noted that as the business scales and regulatory landscapes evolve rapidly worldwide, compliance is recognized as the baseline. This introduces greater challenges and uncertainty, potentially reshaping the development model. In response, the company's strategic priority remains investing in supply chain capabilities, empowering merchants and manufacturers to build direct-to-market abilities and adapt flexibly to changing global trade policies.
Regarding future profitability, management set expectations for continued volatility. Zhao Jiazhen stated that the time lag between investment and return will inevitably impact performance in specific periods. Combined with the complex macro environment, he indicated that quarterly profit margin fluctuations would be a "norm" going forward. Chen Lei also predicted a challenging market environment for 2026, with intensified competition around new business models and technologies inevitably pressuring future performance, profitability, and growth.
Management strongly advised investors to shift their evaluation metrics away from single-quarter profit margins and instead focus on the high-quality development of the platform's ecosystem.