(Yicai Global) Aug. 25 -- Pinduoduo’s stock price surged after the e-commerce platform, China’s biggest by consumers, made its first ever quarterly profit amid the ongoing recovery in the country’s post-pandemic consumer market.

Pinduoduo’s shares [NASDAQ:PDD] climbed 22.3 percent in New York yesterday to close at USD99.12 each, valuing the company at USD124 billion.

Net profit was CNY2.4 billion (USD374 million) in the three months ended June 30, versus a CNY899.3 million (USD139 million) loss a year ago, the Shanghai-based firm said in an earnings report released before the market opened yesterday.

Pinduoduo’s first net profit came amid rising demand for consumer products in China. The country’s consumer goods sales jumped 23 percent in the first half of this year to CNY21.2 trillion (USD3.3 trillion), according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. Second-quarter sales rose 13.9 percent.

But Pinduoduo also cautioned investors. “We do not expect the profitability to continue,” Vice President of Finance Tony Ma said on an earnings conference call with analysts.

“Our profit in this quarter was mainly attributable to the operating leverage from the sales and marketing expenses … due to the seasonality,” he said. “It is a unique quarter as Q2 is typically a low season for us with less sales and marketing spending.”

Pinduoduo’s second-quarter revenue jumped 89 percent from a year ago to CNY23 billion (USD3.5 billion), buoyed by higher income from online marketing services. Average monthly active users rose 30 percent to 738.5 million.

Pinduoduo yesterday also unveiled its 10 Billion Agriculture Initiative to address critical needs in the farming sector and rural areas. It will strive to facilitate the advancement of agritech, promote digital inclusion, and provide agritech talent and workers with greater motivation and a sense of achievement, the firm said. Chairman and Chief executive Chen Lei will oversee the initiative.

“This is an important and challenging task, which we will invest in patiently,” said Chen. “All profits from the second quarter and any potential profits in future quarters will first be allocated towards this initiative until the total 10 billion yuan commitment is fulfilled.”

Editor: Futura Costaglione