Shares of Vipshop Holdings Ltd (NYSE:VIPS) plunged Tuesday after China’s online apparel discount retailer reported first-quarter earnings that fell short of estimates.
Investors soured on Vipshop’s American depositary receipts listed on the New York Stock Exchange which tumbled over 20% to US$12.05.
For the quarter ended March 31, Vipshop reported earnings of US$0.17 per share that missed predictions of US$0.18 and was down 20% from the year-ago period.
The company reported revenue of US$3.2bn, up 24.6% from the year-ago period. That beat analyst estimates for US$3.08bn.
The company projected second-quarter revenue in the range of US$3.2bn to US$3.36bn. Analysts predicted US$3.36bn.
In December, Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. (HKG:0700) and its longtime ally e-commerce firm JD.com Inc. (NASDAQ:JD) invested a combined US$863mln in Vipshop, giving it muscle to take on retail giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA).
“We made further progress with our strategic collaboration with Tencent and JD.com, opening up the entry on JD's app homepage in mid-March and the WeChat wallet entry in early April,” said Vipshop CEO Eric Shen.
“We will continue to work closely with Tencent and JD.com in order to improve the traffic flow and conversion rates, which will contribute meaningfully to our long-term customer and revenue growth," added Shen.