JD Stock Surges After JP Morgan Puts It On ‘Positive Catalyst Watch': Retail’s Upbeat

ADR shares of JD.com ($JD) surged nearly 10% on Friday after the e-commerce company was put on "positive catalyst watch” by JP Morgan amid broader optimism among Chinese firms on the back of better-than-expected economic data, lifting retail sentiment.

JP Morgan maintains an ‘Overweight’ rating with a $50 price target, Fly.com reported. According to the firm, JD's revenue growth should see a better-than-expected boost from trade-in policies, with more resilient margins thanks to investment discipline, according to the report. 

JP Morgan forecasts JD’s Q4 revenue growth to be about 9.5% year-over-year, beating consensus estimates by 3%, and adjusted net profit projected to grow 13% compared to last year, Investing.com reported.

China’s economic activity exceeded expectations for the last quarter of 2024 with stimulus measures taking effect, providing a boost to several Chinese stocks.

Sentiment on Stocktwits turned ‘bullish’ from ‘neutral’ last week. Message volumes were in the ‘normal’ category.

Separately, Citi analyst Alicia Yap also placed the company on a "90-day positive catalyst watch" with a ‘Buy’ rating with a $51 price target. The view was based on the continuation of the company’s national trade-in programs for 2025 in major provinces like Hubei, Jiangsu and Hunan, among others, the Fly.com reported.

According to the report, JD.com’s early mover positioning in trade-in programs should support potentially stronger-than-expected merchandise volume and revenue growth in the first half of 2025 with upside risks to consensus estimates.

JD.com also stood second on a recent Stocktwits poll that asked users to pick large-cap Chinese companies they were most optimistic about. About 18% of commenters picked JD.com that came second to Alibaba Holdings, which scored 60%.

JD.com stock is up 12% year-to-date.

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