Meituan returns to profit as China delivery price wars ease

Chinese food delivery giant Meituan has returned to profitability, reporting an adjusted net profit of 2.16 billion yuan for the quarter ended June 30. This follows a loss of 4.97 billion yuan in the previous quarter. Revenue for the period rose 14.4 percent year-on-year to 104.6 billion yuan, exceeding analyst expectations.

The company’s financial recovery comes as intense price competition in China’s ‘instant retail’ market—a sector involving the delivery of food and daily goods within 60 minutes—begins to subside. The market had previously seen aggressive discounting from Meituan, Alibaba’s Taobao, and JD.com, a trend regulators criticized as a ‘race to the bottom.’

Despite the return to profit, Meituan is increasing its investment in artificial intelligence. Research expenditures rose 22.5 percent to approximately 920 million euros (roughly 7.3 percent of revenue). CEO Wang Xing is directing these funds toward operational efficiency, merchant tools, and dispatching systems rather than focusing solely on large-scale models.