4.3x EBITDA, 7.5x P/E — 50% of Market Cap is Cash
Sometimes a company gets so overlooked that more than half its market cap is just sitting in cash. The rest—the part actually growing and throwing off billions in free cash flow—is basically being given away.
That kind of setup doesn’t come around often. When it does, it usually takes fear, fatigue, and a broken narrative to keep it alive.
This is one of those setups.
You’ve got a business doing over $100 billion in revenue. It leads a core segment of Asia’s digital economy. It generated $5 billion in free cash flow last year and has one of the cleanest balance sheets in the region.
And the market? It’s valuing the whole thing at 7x earnings. Half the market cap is net cash and investments. The other half—its core business—is being treated like a dying retailer. It’s not.
This isn’t a case of management standing still. JD.com is buying back billions in stock, quietly running one of the biggest repurchase programs in Asia.
JD is cheap—no question. But more importantly, it’s misunderstood.
What looks like a slow-growth e-commerce stock is really a capital-efficient, cash-rich logistics powerhouse. It spent a decade building the best infrastructure in China’s online retail market. Now it owns the rails. And it’s finally getting paid for it.
The Numbers Dont Lie
JD’s total net revenue in Q1 2025 hit RMB 301.1 billion (~$42 billion USD), up 15.8% YoY.
Marketplace and marketing services—which carry far higher margins—grew nearly 15.7% YoY.
JD Retail, the core business, posted a 4.9% operating margin last quarter, up from just 4.1% a year ago.
JD Group’s non-GAAP net income for the quarter was RMB 12.8 billion ($1.8B USD) with a 4.2% net margin.
These aren’t the numbers of a business in decline. They’re the numbers of a scaled platform getting more efficient (and more profitable) over time.
Meanwhile, JD’s free cash flow over the last twelve months came in at about $5 billion USD. That puts the stock at less than 10x FCF. Back out the company's massive net cash position—roughly $26 billion, or over 50% of the current market cap—and you're effectively paying ~5x FCF for the core business.
This isn’t a margin-of-safety. It’s a moat of misunderstanding.
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1.) Business Overview
People love calling JD "the Amazon of China." But that comparison misses what actually makes JD interesting. The real story isn't about similarity—it's about restraint.