Alibaba Group Holding Ltd Plunges As Q1 Revenue Misses Estimates

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Shares of Alibaba fell as much as 6.93% in pre-market trading Wednesday after the company reported its fiscal first-quarter results. The e-commerce giant reported revenue of 20.24 billion yuan or $3.265 billion, which represents 28% YoY increase. However, its June quarter revenue missed the consensus estimate of $3.39 billion, sparking speculations that Alibaba is witnessing the impact of a decelerating Chinese economy.

Alibaba’s mobile GMV jumps to $60 billion

Alibaba posted 59 cents a share in non-GAAP diluted earnings per share, slightly better than the Wall Street consensus of 58 cents per share. The total gross merchandise volume (GMV) from its China retail marketplaces rose 34% YoY to $109 billion. The GMV growth was hurt by the suspension of online lottery sales.

Alibaba

Alibaba said mobile GMV rose a staggering 125% YoY to $60 billion, accounting for 55% of its total GMV transacted on the company’s China retail marketplaces. Mobile revenue rose 225% to $1.288 billion, accounting for over 50% of its total China retail revenue for the first time. The company ended the quarter with 307 million mobile monthly active users (MAUs). The total number of annual active buyers surged from 279 million in June 2014 to 367 million at the end of the latest quarter.

The Hangzhou-based company’s cloud business also showed an impressive growth. Cloud revenues jumped 106% YoY to $78 million. Earlier this year, Alibaba announced to invest $1 billion in Aliyun to expand the reach of its cloud offerings. Alibaba’s general and administrative expenses rose to 2.24 billion yuan from 944 million yuan in the corresponding quarter a year ago, largely due to an increase in stock-based compensation expenses.

Alibaba announces $4 billion share repurchase program

Alibaba said its board of directors has approved a share repurchase program worth $4 billion over the next two years. The move is aimed at offsetting dilution from the company’s stock-based compensation programs. The e-commerce giant ended the quarter with 115.27 billion yuan in cash and cash equivalents, down from 122.34 billion yuan at the end of March 2015.

Shedding some light on its $4.6 billion investment in consumer electronics retailer, Alibaba said the alliance would bring a lot of strategic benefits to the e-commerce firm. Suning may help Alibaba in better product selection, and enhanced customer experience through the timely and quick delivery of goods and after-sales services. Suning has more than 1,600 retail stores and 1,700 last-mile delivery stations.

Alibaba shares were down 4.42% to $73.81 in pre-market trading Wednesday.

 

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