Dingdong profit surges as company awaits Meituan deal clearance

Dingdong (NYSE:DDL) reported a substantial increase in net income for the first quarter of 2026, driven by steady domestic demand and accounting adjustments related to its pending corporate sale to Meituan.

The Shanghai-based e-commerce operator reported that total revenues increased 7.5% year-over-year to RMB5,892.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026.

Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV), a key operational metric tracking the total value of orders processed through its platform, rose 6.3% to reach RMB6,333.3 million.

Net income for the quarter surged to RMB165.4 million, representing a significant climb from the RMB8 million recorded in the same period last year and marking the company's ninth consecutive quarter of profitability.

Non-GAAP net income reached RMB172 million, yielding a net margin of 2.9%.

The steep bottom-line expansion was significantly influenced by the structural shifts of its impending divestiture.

Dingdong recently entered into a definitive agreement to sell its core China business to on-demand retail giant Meituan, a transaction that currently awaits regulatory clearance from China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR).

Because the domestic operations are now classified as "held-for-sale," corporate accounting standards required Dingdong to cease the depreciation and amortization of its long-lived assets in China.

This technical adjustment artificially reduced operating expenses, boosting the quarter's net income by approximately RMB138 million.

While the domestic segment finalized its transition steps, Dingdong's nascent international operations showed divergent trends.

Overseas revenue experienced a sharp 195.2% acceleration to RMB139.4 million, reflecting rapid cross-border volume gains.

However, this early-stage geographic expansion came at a high operational cost, with the overseas business logging a net loss of RMB71.4 million for the quarter.