Alibaba 4Q revenue jumps as it sees more shoppers

Global Business

Alibaba

Chinese e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba Group’s revenue jumped 45 percent on strong mobile growth and more active buyers in the fiscal fourth quarter.

The company also on Thursday named a new CEO and said it planned a hiring freeze for the fiscal year. Sales beat expectations, and the company’s shares rose 7.5 percent in premarket trading.

Alibaba went public in September to much fanfare as investors sought to tap into the rapidly growing Chinese middle-class consumer class. Its e-commerce platforms including Taobao and Tmall make up 80 percent of Chinese e-commerce.

Net income for the three months ended March 31 fell 49 percent to 2.87 billion Chinese yuan ($463 million), or $1.12 yuan (18 cents) per share, from 5.66 billion yuan, or 2.80 yuan per share, last year. Excluding one-time items, net income totaled 48 cents per share. Analysts expected 43 cents per share, according to its fiscal year result.

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Revenue rose 45 percent to 17.43 billion yuan ($2.81 billion), from 12.03 billion yuan last year. Analysts expected $2.72 billion.

Gross merchandise volume, or the total amount of goods sold on Alibaba’s platforms, rose 40 percent from the same period last year. Annual active buyers rose 37 percent to 350 million.

The company also said Daniel Zhang, chief operating officer, will become CEO effective Sunday, replacing Jonathan Lu, who will become vice chairman.

Zhang has been at the company for eight years. He has been chief operating officer since 2013.

Alibaba, based in Hangzhou, China, wasn’t planning on adding new staff to its 34,985 workforce in fiscal 2016, but said it will “continue to bring in the necessary talent to enable us to execute our growth plans.”

Shares rose 7.5 percent, or 6 percent, to $85.92 in premarket trading. The stock is down about 23 percent since the beginning of the year.

Story compiled with information from The Associated Press.


Analysts optimistic of Alibaba shares rebound

It appears that Alibaba still has the magic touch. Their U.S. traded shares rose 7.5 percent– after the e-commerce giant’s profit and revenue beat forecasts. Fourth-quarter earnings came in at 48 cents per share. Analysts expected 42. Revenue also impressed– surging 45 percent to nearly $3 billion. Alibaba’s transactions from all its platforms also rose 40 percent to $97 billion. But despite the robust results– Alibaba’s stock is still 28 percent lower than its record high. CCTV America’s Karina Huber filed this report from New York.

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Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. compared to Facebook Inc. earnings, from Sept. 2014 to present. (Graphic provided by Google Finance)

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Follow Karina Huber on Twitter @kkat31


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