JD Health (06618.HK) shares opened 3.09% higher at HK$40.74 on the morning of August 14 following the release of its interim results for the six months ended June 30, 2026, with pre-market turnover of 313,000 shares worth HK$12.75 million (approx. $1.6 million). CLSA said in its latest report that JD Health’s interim results were in line with expectations, forecasting second-half revenue growth to accelerate to 16.7%. The brokerage maintained its “Outperform” rating but trimmed adjusted net profit forecasts for this year and next by 1% and 4% respectively, citing lower finance income, and cut its target price from HK$66.5 to HK$61.

JD Health posted first-half net profit of RMB 3.44 billion (approx. $510.8 million), up 32.4% year-on-year, with basic earnings per share of RMB 1.08. Non-IFRS profit came in at RMB 3.87 billion (approx. $574.7 million), up 8.5% year-on-year. Non-IFRS operating profit grew 40.3% to RMB 3.48 billion (approx. $516.7 million), lifting the operating margin to 8.5% from 7% in the prior-year period.

First-half total revenue reached RMB 40.89 billion (approx. $6.1 billion), up 15.9% year-on-year. Product revenue rose 15.6% to RMB 33.9 billion (approx. $5.0 billion), driven by growth in active users and continued improvement in online penetration. Platform, advertising, and other services revenue increased 17.2% to RMB 6.98 billion (approx. $1.0 billion), supported by a larger base of platform advertisers.

Management: Core Pharmaceutical Growth Outpacing the Industry

On the post-earnings conference call, JD Health management said the company’s core pharmaceutical business is leading the industry in both growth rate and scale, expressing confidence in further expanding market share. In the first half, the company focused on high-growth segments including chronic disease and metabolic health, dermatology, oncology, and women’s health, launching a cumulative total of 65 new drugs and establishing digital marketing partnerships with more than 200 pharmaceutical companies.

On the artificial intelligence front, management revealed that AI Doctor “Dawei” saw its user base grow nearly fourfold year-on-year during the 618 shopping festival. AI technology is being rapidly deployed across health consultation, medication guidance, and chronic disease management scenarios, helping build longer-term and more engaged health management relationships with users. Management emphasized that JD Health will continue to strengthen its supply chain moat, widen its competitive lead, and drive long-term sustainable growth.

The company’s on-demand retail medical insurance payment service now covers 40 cities nationwide, with more than 450 JD Pharmacy locations across 10 cities in China.

LG Group Delivers Strong Results; Brokerages Raise Target Prices

Meanwhile, South Korea’s LG Group also benefited from a robust recovery in its electronics business. LG Electronics shares rose 4.36% to ₩215,500 (approx. $152.27) in morning trading on August 14, while group holding company LG Corp (003550.KS) climbed more than 6%.

LG Corp reported second-quarter consolidated revenue of ₩2.14 trillion (approx. $1.5 billion) and operating profit of ₩533 billion (approx. $376.6 million) on August 13, up 19% and 92.5% year-on-year respectively. Within the group, LG Electronics posted Q2 revenue of ₩22.74 trillion (approx. $16.1 billion) and operating profit of ₩1.27 trillion (approx. $900.9 million), up 10.9% and 99.3% year-on-year. LG Innotek recorded revenue of ₩5.93 trillion (approx. $4.2 billion) and operating profit of ₩245.8 billion (approx. $173.7 million), surging 29.8% and 114.8% respectively.

Securities firms are increasingly optimistic about LG Electronics’ core business improvement and the growth potential of its new AI ventures. iM Securities sharply raised its target price for LG Electronics from ₩165,000 to ₩250,000, citing improved profit contribution from the automotive electronics business and the emergence of data center cooling solutions and robotics as new growth drivers.

iM Securities analyst Ko Ui-young noted: “The clearer the results from new businesses become, the more momentum the stock will gain. Visibility on cooling solutions will begin to emerge in the second half, with robotics following closely behind.” He added: “At current levels, the stock is trading in a range where investors are effectively buying an AI option on top of the durable goods franchise.”

At the group level, LG Corp’s equity-method investment income reached ₩348.1 billion (approx. $246.0 million) in Q2, a 274.7% surge from ₩92.9 billion (approx. $65.6 million) a year earlier, driven primarily by improved performance at LG Electronics and LG Innotek, as well as LG CNS swinging from a loss in the year-ago quarter to a profit on an equity-method basis.

For the first half, group cumulative revenue totaled ₩3.94 trillion (approx. $2.8 billion), up 5.5% year-on-year, with operating profit of ₩946.8 billion (approx. $669.0 million), up 3.5%. The electronics division’s H1 operating margin improved to 5.6% from 3.3% a year earlier, while the communications and services division also improved from 7.3% to 7.9%. However, the chemicals division saw its operating margin decline from 4.0% to 2.6%, weighed down by reduced EV battery production and stabilization and quality costs associated with the energy storage system (ESS) production line conversion.