JD.com Stock Slips As Walmart Confirms Entire Stake Sale

(RTTNews) - Shares of JD.com Inc. traded down around 8 percent on the Hong Kong exchange and were losing more than 8 percent in the early morning trading on the Nasdaq after retail giant Walmart Inc. announced the sale of its entire stake in the Chinese e-commerce firm. Walmart expects the sale to help focus on its strong China operations for Walmart China and Sam's Club, and deploy capital towards other priorities.

In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Walmart stated that it no longer holds any shares of JD.com, but the details were not revealed.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that the retail major raised about $3.6 billion by selling 144.5 million JD.com shares for $24.95 per share.

It was in June 2016 that Walmart formed a strategic alliance with JD.com, China's largest e-commerce company by revenue at that time, and a wide range of business initiatives, covering both online and offline retail. Walmart had received around 144.95 million shares in JD.com, amounting to around 5 percent of total shares.

Under the deal, the companies had collaborated on e-commerce, including launching Sam's Club Flagship Store and Walmart Flagship Store on www.jd.com website, as well as Sam's Club Global Flagship Store, Walmart Global Flagship Store, ASDA Flagship Store, and several category global stores to sell specific category products on JD Worldwide.

The deal also had included a one-hour delivery service from Walmart Stores and Sam's Clubs in select cities through the JD Daojia app. JD.com also entered into an eight-year non-compete arrangement with Walmart, subject to certain conditions and exceptions.

Further, JD.com, in its 2023 annual report, had stated that Walmart owns 9.4 percent of ordinary shares in the company as of March 31, holding just over 289 million shares.

Walmart said that JD has been a valued partner over the past 8 years, and that it is committed to a continued commercial relationship with them.

Last week, JD.com recorded significantly higher earnings in its second quarter with 1.2 percent rise in net revenues. Net product revenues remained stable, while net service revenues increased 6.3%.

In Hong Kong, JD.com shares traded at HK$102.400, down 8.73 percent.

On the Nasdaq, JD.com shares were losing around 8 percent to trade at $25.93.