On September 4th, Moody’s Ratings updated JD.com’s issuer and senior unsecured ratings to A3 from Baa1 and revised the outlook to stable. This marks the third time Moody’s has upgraded the company’s rating since 2016.

“The ratings upgrade and stable outlook reflect JD.com’s leading market position in China’s e-commerce market with a unique and resilient business model, supported by deep supply-chain capability and economies of scale as well as its prudent financial policy that underpins low leverage and a solid net cash position,” Shawn Xiong, a Moody’s Ratings Vice President and Senior Analyst.

Moody’s anticipates that JD’s core retail business will experience steady to moderate revenue growth over the next 12-18 months, thanks to its expanding third-party marketplace business (3P) and an increase in the number of 3P merchants, along with a growing revenue share from JD Logistics.

Moreover, the ratings agency expects margins to remain stable during this period, driven by efficient cost control, improved operational efficiency, and ongoing product category optimization. JD’s second-quarter earnings report disclosed that its Non-GAAP net margin reached 5% for the first time, influenced by a gross margin expansion to a record level of 15.8% in the quarter, reflecting enhancements across nearly every category.

(vivian.yang@jd.com)