Alibaba feels the heat as PDD catches up in U.S. market cap

Jack Ma urges 'sacrifices' from employees to help e-commerce king fend off rival

Alibaba's market capitalization slipped behind that of Pinduoduo parent PDD Holdings after the latter reported strong earnings that helped push its New York-listed shares up 18%. PDD's time at the top was short-lived -- its market cap at the end of trading stood at $188.3 billion, just behind Alibaba's $189.5 billion.