By Tracy Qu
Meituan recorded a loss in the final quarter of 2025 as the food-delivery giant continued to bleed from the brutal price war in China.
It was a second straight quarter in the red for the Chinese shopping-and-delivery platform, which swung to a loss in the third quarter for the first time in three years. Amid a food-delivery battle with rivals like Alibaba Group and e-commerce platform JD.com, Meituan has been aggressively offering discounts to attract customers.
The competition has pummeled the margins of all three companies. It pushed JD.com into its first quarterly loss in nearly four years, while Alibaba's profit slid 67% in the three months ended December. Earlier in March, S&P Global Ratings downgraded Meituan to BBB-plus from A-minus, citing the Chinese online retailer's declining ability to defend and grow its market share amid the subsidy war.
On Thursday, Beijing-based Meituan said its fourth-quarter net loss came to 15.14 billion yuan, equivalent to $2.19 billion, compared with net profit of 6.22 billion yuan a year earlier. Revenue rose 4.1% to 92.10 billion yuan.
Analysts had predicted a net loss of 15.74 billion yuan on revenue of 92.06 billion yuan, according to a FactSet consensus estimate.
Authorities have renewed their push to rein in a price war that has ravaged the industry and beaten down profits.
China's top market regulator early Wednesday said it held a seminar to curb unfair competition, without identifying the sector. Around the same time, its official website republished a column from the state-owned Economic Daily that called for an end to the price war among food-delivery platforms.
The moves sent shares of Meituan, Alibaba and JD.com sharply higher later that afternoon, with Meituan's stock rallying 14% for its best day in one and a half years.
Analysts viewed the regulator's stance as positive for Meituan, as easing competitive pressures should accelerate its recovery pace. The regulator's statement could mark "a pivotal sign of normalization in food-delivery competition, with a decent scale-back of subsidies in the coming months," Citi analysts wrote in a note.
Amid intensified domestic competition, Meituan has continued its overseas expansion, seeking new sources of growth. Its overseas brand, Keeta, has made progress in Hong Kong and the Middle East. In Brazil, it is competing with local food-delivery providers like iFood and Didi's 99Food platform.
The company said the operating loss in its new initiatives business widened to 4.65 billion yuan in the fourth quarter due to its overseas push, although revenue increased 19%.
Write to Tracy Qu at tracy.qu@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 26, 2026 06:58 ET (10:58 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.