Goldman Sachs' research report maintains a "buy" rating for JD.com (09618) with a target price of HKD 161, which reflects the company's leadership position in retail scale, unique online direct sales and market model, and industry-leading internal warehousing and supply chain capabilities.

The report cited JD.com's management as saying that given the recent 618 activity and the status of Chinese consumers, active users in the first quarter are expected to continue to grow at a double-digit rate, with supermarkets performing well. Regarding e-commerce competition, JD.com believes that the e-commerce market is not a winner-takes-all situation, and each company will find its own differentiation. In terms of revenue growth, department stores/supermarkets are expected to grow at a double-digit rate this year. JD.com continues to achieve mid-to-high single-digit revenue growth throughout the year, stable growth in JD Retail's profit, balanced KPI performance such as GMV growth, absolute profit, and cash flow across all categories, and maintains confidence in the potential space for a long-term GMV profit margin of 3%.

Goldman Sachs believes that due to the high base in the second quarter of last year, it is expected that JD.com's revenue growth in the second quarter of this year will slow down quarter by quarter, and it maintains its forecast of a 6% increase in full-year revenue and a 7% increase in net profit. Although Goldman Sachs has recently lowered its preference for the e-commerce sub-sector to reflect potential softening of online consumption trends in June and investor concerns about short-term declines in Taobao Tmall's profits and JD Retail's profit remaining stable, it believes that the e-commerce industry has opportunities in the second half of the year, and profitability may reach a turning point.