Staff sort express deliveries at China Post’s Zaozhuang branch in east China’s Shandong province on November 10, 2024
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
BEIJING — China’s Singles’ Day shopping festival saw consumers spend more than expected in what has otherwise been a tepid retail environment, consulting executives told CNBC.
The country’s version of Black Friday kicked off this year on Oct. 14, more than a week earlier than in 2023, and wrapped up Monday. Major e-commerce companies used to report gross merchandise value, an industry measure of sales over time, but did not for a third consecutive year amid weak consumer sentiment.
“I do think for many brands it probably will have turned out a bit better than they thought, but on a low level. Probably nobody would say we hit it out of the ballpark,” said Chris Reitermann, CEO of Ogilvy APAC and Greater China. He is also president of WPP China.
Many multinational corporations that sell consumer products in China are more cautious on the market, if not struggling, Reitermann said. But he pointed out many of the companies are still “very profitable” in the country, even if their growth has slowed to the low single digits, instead of high double digits.
For this year’s Singles Day, Alibaba claimed “robust growth” in GMV and a “record number of active buyers,” while JD.com said the number of shoppers on its platform rose by more than 20% year-over-year.
The shopping season that celebrates single people, also known as Double 11, came as the Chinese government has announced a series of stimulus measures since late September, fueling a stock market rally.
“There seems to be an uptick” in consumer sentiment over the last six weeks, said Daniel Zipser, senior partner at McKinsey and leader of its Asia Pacific consumer and retail division. It’s “hard to predict what that means going forward.”
Singles Day exceeded expectations for most brands, Zipser said. But rather than sales rising across the board, he pointed out pockets of growth in categories such as outdoors, pet care and “blind box” toys — in which consumers buy uniformly marked boxes for a chance at winning a new collectible.
He noted that the blind box category is one that went from $0 before Covid-19 to an industry more than $2 billion in size, reflecting the potential speed of consumer adoption in China.
China’s retail sales for October are expected to have risen by 3.8% from a year ago, according to a Reuters poll. That would be an improvement from 3.2% growth in September.
“We saw people spending more this year,” Jacob Cooke, co-founder and CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies, told CNBC on Tuesday. The company helps foreign brands — such as Vitamix and IS Clinical — sell online in China and other parts of Asia.
He estimated 16% growth in GMV for the shopping festival from last year, in likely the strongest performance in years. Cooke added that brands didn’t have to cut prices as much.
Research firm Syntun said Tuesday it estimated 20.1% year-on-year growth in sales over the Singles Day period to 1.11 trillion ($150 billion) for Alibaba’s Tmall, JD.com and PDD.
Investors could get more details on China consumption later this week. JD.com is scheduled to release quarterly results Thursday, followed by Alibaba on Friday.
“We’ve seen consumers who have, if you will, save for a rainy day, and they’ve purchased on this Double 11 shopping festival,” Deborah Weinswig, founder and CEO of Coresight Research, said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”
She said the company’s weekly survey has indicated some “differences” in consumer sentiment over the last month.
Hopes for a recovery in 2025
China’s consumer spending has come under pressure since the Covid-19 pandemic as households grapple with economic uncertainty. A real estate slump has cut into household wealth, while economic growth has slowed.
While premium or mid-tier brands are “disappearing very fast,” higher-end brands such as Lululemon can do well, Reitermann said. He noted generally that local brands are often lower-priced and able to go to market faster.
He expects some rebound in consumer confidence in the second half of next year, after additional stimulus is likely announced in the first half.
China’s Ministry of Finance last week indicated more fiscal support could come in 2025. While China did not hand out cash to consumers during the pandemic, this year, the country did roll out a trade-in program to subsidize a portion of car and home appliance purchases.
Baidu on Nov. 12, 2024, unveiled a pair of glasses with a built-in AI assistant, putting up a Chinese rival to the Meta Ray-Bans that have proven a rare success in AI-powered hardware.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
BEIJING — Chinese tech giant Baidu on Thursday posted a 3% annual drop in third-quarter revenue, nevertheless beating market expectations amid AI cloud growth.
The revenue print came in at $4.78 billion for the quarter ending on Sept. 30. Net income for the period rose by 14% to $1.09 billion.
Baidu noted a 12% surge in its non-online marketing revenue to the equivalent of $1.1 billion, mainly driven by its artificial intelligence cloud business.
Here’s what analysts expected the company to report for the quarter, according to LSEG estimates:
Revenue: $4.63 billion
Net income: $857.17 million
Baidu had reported revenue of 34.45 billion yuan ($4.75 billion) and net income of 6.68 billion yuan for the third quarter of 2023.
Beijing-based Baidu operates one of the major web browser search engines in China, along with a frequently used maps app. The company also sells cloud computing services. Online marketing drives a significant portion of the firm’s revenue.
In artificial intelligence, Baidu has promoted its Ernie chatbot as a local alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which isn’t available in China. Ernie bot now has 430 million users, Baidu said last week.
The company this month also announced that its Xiaodu AI Glasses will begin sales in the first half of next year. The wearable has at least one camera and uses Ernie’s AI capabilities and Baidu’s maps and search functions. While Baidu hasn’t revealed a price, the product is widely expected to be a Chinese alternative to Meta’s popular Ray-Ban smart glasses.
Baidu announced a management rotation last month, with Junjie He, formerly head of the mobile ecosystem group, becoming the company’s interim Chief Financial Officer, while former CFO Rong Luo assumed leadership of the mobile division.
Check out the companies making headlines in extended trading: Nvidia — The artificial intelligence darling slid nearly 2% despite exceeding expectations for the third quarter and providing strong guidance. Nvidia posted 81 cents in adjusted earnings per share and $35.08 billion in revenue. Analysts surveyed by LSEG were expecting 75 cents in earnings per share and $33.16 billion in revenue. Snowflake — The cloud stock soared 18% after beating earnings expectations for the third quarter and issuing strong guidance. Snowflake posted adjusted earnings of 20 cents per share on $942 million in revenue, while analysts surveyed by LSEG predicted 15 cents in earnings per share and $897 million in revenue. Palo Alto Networks — The cybersecurity stock slipped 5%. Palo Alto announced a two-for-one stock split. The company issued fiscal second-quarter guidance, calling for adjusted earnings of $1.54 to $1.56 per share on revenue of $2.22 billion to $2.25 billion. That was roughly in line with the Street’s forecast of $1.55 per share in earnings and $2.23 billion in revenue, per FactSet. Jack in the Box — The restaurant chain tumbled 5.6% after revenue for the fiscal fourth quarter came in at $349.3 million, under the consensus forecast of $356.7 million from analysts polled by FactSet. On the other hand, Jack in the Box earned $1.16 per share, excluding items, which was 7 cents ahead of what Wall Street penciled in.
Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading: Williams-Sonoma — The home goods retailer soared about 29% after beating expectations on both lines for the third quarter and raising full-year guidance. Williams-Sonoma earned $1.96 per share on $1.80 billion in revenue, while analysts surveyed by LSEG had anticipated just $1.78 in earnings per share and $1.79 billion in revenue. Ford Motor — Shares of the U.S. automaker slid 3% after Ford said on Wednesday it plans to cut around 14% of its European workforce . The company cited significant losses in recent years driven by weak demand for electric vehicles, a lack of government support for the shift toward electric vehicles and greater industry competition. Nvidia — Shares dipped 1% ahead of the chipmaker’s fiscal third-quarter results due after market close. Analysts polled by LSEG expect Nvidia to post earnings of 75 cents per share on about $33.16 billion in revenue, or more than 80% revenue growth compared to a year ago. AppLovin — Shares popped 4.8%. Piper Sandler initiated coverage of the mobile app developer with an overweight rating. The firm set a price target implying the stock has upside of nearly 25% ahead , even after it already surged more than 700% in 2024. Target — Shares plunged more than 21% after the big-box retailer disappointed on third-quarter earnings and revenue estimates and cut its full-year guidance, just three months after raising that forecast. Target reported only a slight uptick in customer traffic as CEO Brian Cornell noted “lingering softness in discretionary categories.” Delta Air Lines — Shares of the carrier dipped less than 1% even after the firm forecast revenue growth in mid-single-digit percentage points next year, in line with analysts’ estimates. Delta said sales would grow in 2025, citing a “resilient economy” for strong travel demand and credit card spending, especially for higher-end offerings. It also said it expects to grow earnings in the coming years. The stock has gone up about 60% this year. Robinhood — The trading platform’s shares advanced more than 3% after Needham upgraded its rating to buy from hold on Robinhood. Elsewhere, the company said it is planning to acquire TradePMR , a custodial platform for registered investment advisors, in a roughly $300 million deal that is expected to close in the first half of 2025. Lemonade — The insurance stock popped nearly 15% following an upgrade at Morgan Stanley to equal weight from underweight. The firm cited Lemonade’s “ambitious” goal of growing its business and its charted path to net profit positive exiting 2027 for the call. Keysight Technologies — Shares jumped more than 6% after the electronics test and measurement equipment company topped Wall Street expectations for the fiscal fourth quarter. Keysight also gave an upbeat outlook for the current quarter, anticipating adjusted earnings of $1.65 to $1.71 per share. That is better than the $1.57 in earnings per share that analysts were expecting, per FactSet. Super Micro Computer — Shares dropped nearly 8%, taking back some of Tuesday’s gains of more than 31%. Shares of the struggling server maker bounced in the previous session after Super Micro announced it hired BDO as its new auditor and said it submitted a plan to Nasdaq detailing how it will comply with the exchange’s listing requirements. Dolby Laboratories — Shares jumped more than 14% after the audio technology company gave quarterly results that beat Wall Street estimates. Dolby earned 61 cents per share in its fiscal fourth quarter, higher than analysts’ forecast of 45 cents per share, according to FactSet. Dolby also raised its quarterly dividend by 10% to 33 cents per share, payable Dec. 10. Qualcomm — Shares slid 6% even after the semiconductor company provided new five-year financial targets on Tuesday that aim to generate an additional $22 billion in annual revenue by 2029 . Qualcomm also detailed a plan to generate $4 billion in revenue for industrial chips and a $2 billion sales target for its chips that are used in virtual and augmented reality headsets, alongside other goals. — CNBC’s Alex Harring, Brian Evans, Sean Conlon, Yun Li and Michelle Fox contributed reporting.