(Yicai Global) Nov. 17 -- JD.Com’s stock price slumped despite China’s biggest online retailer reporting better-than-expected third-quarter revenue a week after the country issued new regulatory standards aimed at reining in its internet titans.

JD’s Hong Kong-listed shares [HKG: 9618] lost 7.1 percent today to close at HKD341.80 (USD44.09) each, after the company’s US-traded stock [NASDAQ: JD] fell 7.4 percent in New York yesterday to USD85.26.

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation issued draft antitrust rules on Nov. 10 to preserve fair competition in the internet sector, and is soliciting public feedback until Nov. 30. This latest ratcheting up of regulation has precipitated a slide in the shares of tech firms, including JD.Com, Tencent Holdings and Meituan.

JD’s revenue rose 29 percent to CNY174.2 billion (USD26.35 billion) in the three months ended Sept. 30 from a year earlier, according to the Beijing-based company’s earnings report released yesterday. That beat the CNY170.5 billion predicted by analysts polled by Bloomberg News. Net income jumped 13-fold to CNY7.6 billion due in part to one-time gains.

“JD showed remarkable resilience again in Q3 as China emerges from the pandemic,” Chief Financial Officer Sandy Xu said on an earnings call after the results came out. “We delivered both robust top line growth and year-over-year improvement of profitability, while investing in our capabilities in strategic areas.”

Notwithstanding slowing growth in online sales of daily necessities, handsets, tablets and personal computers as Covid-19 further slackened its grip in the third quarter,  gross merchandise product sales rose 35 percent to CNY58.1 billion in the period. 

Annual active consumers in the past 12 months reached 442 million, 32 percent more than a year ago, the highest growth rate in the past several years. JD Plus premium membership holders exceeded 20 million in October.

Chief Strategy Officer Jon Liao said JD is entirely on board with stricter anti-monopoly regulations, noting the antitrust guidelines for the platform economy the SAMR has put out. They will benefit not only the sector’s healthy growth, but also innovation of its ecosystem and the whole national economy, he said, adding that JD has dedicated itself to building a healthy ecosystem since its inception.

JD made no earnings prediction, as it stopped providing quarterly guidance in the previous quarter.

Editor: Ben Armour