Alibaba’s third quarter revenue increased by 2% to $40.7bn on an underlying basis, falling just shy of analyst estimates. Cloud Intelligence sales grew by 36% driven by strong demand for AI from both retail and business customers.
Growth in the core E-commerce division was 6% with most of the uplift due to a 56% increase in the small, but growing, quick commerce business.
Operating profit fell 74%, largely reflective of falling profitability within E-commerce.
Free cash flow fell 71% to $1.6bn, impacted by continued high levels of investment in quick commerce. Net cash was $6.5bn .
Alibaba paid out $4.8bn in dividends and repurchased $1.1bn of its shares over the quarter.
The shares were down 4.5 % in pre-market trading.
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Alibaba key facts
All ratios are sourced from LSEG Datastream, based on previous day’s closing values. Please remember yields are variable and not a reliable indicator of future income. Keep in mind key figures shouldn’t be looked at on their own – it’s important to understand the big picture.
This article is original Hargreaves Lansdown content, published by Hargreaves Lansdown. It was correct as at the date of publication, and our views may have changed since then. Unless otherwise stated estimates, including prospective yields, are a consensus of analyst forecasts provided by LSEG. These estimates are not a reliable indicator of future performance. Yields are variable and not guaranteed. Investments rise and fall in value so investors could make a loss.
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