(Yicai) Nov. 29 -- The market capitalization of Pinduoduo’s listed arm surged toward that of rival Alibaba Group Holding after the Chinese group-buying platform’s profit climbed 47 percent in the third quarter from a year ago.

PDD Holdings [NASDAQ: PDD] closed 18.1 percent higher at USD139 a share in New York yesterday, giving it a market cap of USD183.4 billion, versus Alibaba’s [NYSE: BABA] USD195.2 billion.

Pinduoduo had net income of CNY15.5 billion (USD2.1 billion) in the three months ended Sept. 30, the Shanghai-based firm, which also runs shopping app Temu, said in an earnings report published yesterday. Revenue almost doubled to CNY68.8 billion.

Income from online marketing jumped 39 percent to CNY39.7 billion, while that from transaction services more than quadrupled to CNY29.2 billion.

“Throughout the past third quarter, consumption vitality kept improving” as Pinduoduo “continued to provide consumers with more savings and better service through increased investments,” co-Chief Executive Officer Zhao Jiazhen said.

“This year is a year of recovery and also a year of heightened competition,” said Chen Lei, chairman and co-CEO.

One of those rivals reportedly gave Pinduoduo a pat on the back today. In a post on Alibaba’s internal forum, billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist Jack Ma applauded Pinduoduo’s management decisions, implementation, and efforts over recent years and urged Alibaba, the e-commerce giant he set up in 1999, to “change and reform,” according to media reports.

Pinduoduo does not focus on what competitors do, but on what consumers need, according to Zhao. “We have been seeing a clear trend of consumption upgrades among our users, and against this backdrop, we formulated the high-quality development strategy to better adapt to this trend,” he said.

“We continued to invest decisively in areas such as agritech, supply chain technology, and core R&D capabilities,” Chen said. “Through these efforts, we aim to create our unique value.”

Zhao also mentioned the short-seller report published by Grizzly Research on Sept. 6, saying it was a baseless attempt to create panic and manipulate stock prices for the benefit of short-sellers. New York-based Grizzly described Pinduoduo as a "dying, fraudulent company” and said its Temu app contains hidden spyware that poses a threat to the United States and its national security.

Pinduoduo’s earnings report did not break out figures for Temu.

Editor: Emmi Laine