All eyes on Chinese consumers
Chinese consumers, like just about everyone else around the world, are shopping more online and on their phones. That should be good news for homegrown e-commerce giants Alibaba(BABA) and JD.com (JD), both of which are due to report their second quarter earnings.
One of their rivals, Pinduoduo (PDD), whose shares have more than doubled this year, will also release its latest results.
Shares of JD have soared 75% in 2020 while Alibaba's stock is up about 20% year-to-date. The Chinese economy rebounded in the second quarter following a sharp contraction in the first three months of the year as a result of coronavirus.
Analysts are forecasting a nearly 30% increase in sales for JD from a year ago while revenue is expected to surge almost 50% at Alibaba.
But while investors are cheering the comeback of the Chinese consumer and broader economy, there are mounting worries that Alibaba could become the next target of President Donald Trump's war against Chinese tech companies.
The United States has already announced crackdowns on TikTok, the popular social media app owned by China's ByteDance, as well as a ban on Tencent's WeChat. And now the US Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into Baidu's(BIDU) video streaming unit iQiyi (IQ)for alleged fraud.
Trump wants ByteDance to sell the US assets of TikTok. Microsoft (MSFT) has confirmed it's discussed this with the president and there are also rumors Twitter (TWTR) may be interested in a deal.
