Written by NUPIAO Team
On June 26th, things got interesting at Meituan’s annual shareholder meeting. When asked about the company’s stock performance, CEO Wang Xing didn’t mince words. He laid out a two-pronged approach: first, they are doubling down on running the business better than ever; second, they’re calling for the entire industry to step back and breathe—let’s grow more rationally, not just recklessly. Plus, Meituan is looking to boost market confidence through smart exits from some of its external investments that have performed well.
Then came the big news from CFO Chen Shaohui. The verdict? The company’s current value is being severely underestimated. That’s why Meituan is officially planning a stock buyback. Yep, they think their own stock is a steal right now.
But here’s the part that really grabbed attention. Wang Xing shared something personal and powerful: “From the day we started until today, I haven’t sold a single share, and I have zero plans to do so.” He also clarified rumors about past stock transfers, noting that back in 2021, he donated 10% of his holdings to a foundation purely for charity—a move that was irrevocable and driven by genuine intent.
As of the latest close on the Hong Kong stock market, Meituan (03690.HK) sat at HK$64.25, down 2.8%. Year-to-date, it’s taken a hit with nearly a 38% drop, leaving the market cap around HK$396.7 billion. It’s been a bumpy ride for investors.
The landscape changed dramatically in 2025. The all-out subsidy wars in food delivery and instant retail completely rewrote Meituan’s profit story. While revenue climbed 8% year-over-year to 364.9 billion yuan, profits took a nosedive into the red. The net loss hit 23.4 billion yuan, with an operating loss of 17 billion yuan. Their core local commerce segment alone saw a 6.9 billion yuan loss. Ouch.
Analysts are scratching their heads over this. They believe the massive spending on subsidies for delivery wars and rider incentives has squeezed Meituan’s margins. Add in the fact that Douyin is eating into the hotel and travel space, while Alibaba is pouring money into instant retail to steal merchants and users, and you’ve got a perfect storm. The fear? Meituan’s market share is under pressure, and its valuation is sliding down.
However, there’s a glimmer of hope in the 2026 Q1 earnings report. Revenue grew 5.6% to 91 billion yuan. More importantly, the pain is easing. Operating losses shrank from 16.1 billion yuan in the previous quarter to just 6.5 billion yuan. Core local commerce losses dropped sharply to 2 billion yuan (down from 10 billion), and new business losses narrowed significantly to 2.1 billion yuan (from 4.6 billion). Things are looking up.
After the news broke, JPMorgan kept its rating neutral but set a 12-month target price at 85 yuan. They feel the risk-reward ratio is slightly positive but not a clear trend yet. They need to see sustained improvements in unit economics (UE) between Q2 and Q3 2026 before getting too excited.
In their research note, JPMorgan outlined a “base case”: competitors will eventually focus on profitability for instant retail and rationalize delivery subsidies. But let’s be real—that hasn’t happened yet. Subsidies might just hide behind fancy terms like “technology adoption,” and rivals have deep pockets to keep burning cash. If UE turns positive in mid-2026 and high-value order share stays above 60%, they’ll switch to a more bullish view. If the stock dips to the 60-65 yuan range, that’s where they see the fair value.
Goldman Sachs, on the other hand, is keeping its “Buy” rating and bumped the target price up to 116 yuan from 112 yuan. They argue that the recovery in delivery unit economics is happening faster than expected. They predict the delivery segment could break even as early as Q2 2026, aiming for a long-term EBIT of 1 yuan per order. Plus, instant retail and their overseas venture, Keeta, are seen as huge growth engines.
We are currently living through a major reshaping of the delivery industry, driven by both policy and competition. On June 17th, the State Administration for Market Regulation opened public comments on the “Ten Guidelines for Food Delivery Platform Subsidy Behavior.” The draft rules are strict: no long-term, massive subsidies to kill competition, no forcing merchants to pay for subsidies, no monopoly tactics, and definitely no selling below cost.
Meituan’s response? They’re fully on board. They plan to align with these guidelines and work alongside other platforms to shift the focus from price wars to quality and service. It’s time for healthy competition. Even Taobao Flash Sales and JD.com chimed in, stating they “firmly support” these new norms.
Beyond the regulations, Meituan is already using AI to supercharge its operations. During the March earnings call, Wang Xing said it loud and clear: in the AI revolution, the only strategy is to attack, not defend. But don’t worry, they aren’t just trying to be a “token factory.” For them, AI is a strategic lifeline to improve, strengthen, and even reinvent their core local services business.
He revealed that since early 2023, Meituan has poured massive resources into capital expenditure and AI talent. “Except for companies with cloud computing businesses, Meituan is likely making the largest AI investment among domestic firms, and we’ve been doing this for over three years.” They are pushing ahead with their proprietary large model, LongCat, while also collaborating with top-tier third-party models to truly understand the physical world.
Wang Xing believes the key to an AI “super entry point” isn’t just chatting—it’s about understanding user needs precisely and executing tasks efficiently. It’s way more complex than a simple chatbot. Especially in local life, where scenarios are chaotic, merchant info is scattered, and data isn’t digitized enough. Plus, managing the actual fulfillment and delivery requires skills that general-purpose AI just doesn’t have yet.
Looking ahead, Wang Xing is confident. Model capabilities will keep improving, and Meituan will deepen the integration of their AI assistant, “Xiao Tuan,” directly into the Meituan app. “We want to use next-gen AI tech to make the Meituan app the go-to platform for solving local life needs. We’re boosting our AI search and execution capabilities, aiming to transform Meituan into a leading AI-driven application—the ultimate AI entry point for future local life demands.”
