Shanghai-based PDD Holdings, the Chinese group  trading under Temu, the low-cost e-commerce site whose stock dived last week, has amassed the $38bn cash pile of any listed company in the US that does not pay a dividend or buy back shares. PDD’s share price fell 31 per cent last week after it warned that record profitability was likely to decline and ruled out dividends or buybacks.

The Ultra-low-cost online flea market  Temu, generated $6bn of operating cash flow in the second quarter, taking its holdings of cash and short-term investments to $39bn, with a further $9.3bn of longer-term investments.  The total for cash and long-term investments is equivalent to 36 per cent  of PDD’s $132bn market capitalisation.

PDD has soared in value after expanding from China to at least 49 markets in the past two years.