Alibaba profit jumps 58% in quarter as Cloud revenue accelerates

Alibaba Group Holding reported strong second-quarter results on Friday, driven by improved operational efficiency that boosted profitability.

Alibaba profit jumps 58% in quarter as Cloud revenue accelerates

The Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant saw its net income attributable to shareholders surge by 58%, reaching ¥43.87 billion (approximately USD 6.07 billion) for the quarter ending September 30, up from ¥27.71 billion in the same period last year. Diluted earnings per share increased to ¥2.27, compared to ¥1.35 a year earlier. Revenue rose by 5.2% to ¥236.50 billion, up from ¥224.79 billion, despite a 3.1% increase in the cost of revenue, which amounted to ¥144.03 billion. Total costs and expenses climbed 5.7% to ¥202.11 billion, driven by a 27% jump in sales and marketing expenses, which totaled ¥32.47 billion. Alibaba also repurchased approximately 414 million shares during the quarter, amounting to USD 4.1 billion in buybacks.

CEO's comment

CEO Eddie Wu highlighted the company’s ongoing investments in enhancing user experience and product offerings. "This quarter, we focused on strengthening long-term partnerships to expand payment and logistics services on our Taobao and Tmall platforms, which we believe will accelerate overall growth," Wu said. He also noted robust performance in Alibaba’s Cloud segment, with public cloud revenue showing double-digit growth and AI-related products achieving triple-digit growth. “We are more confident than ever in our core businesses and will continue investing in long-term growth. Our other business units have also improved operational efficiency, with many increasing profitability or reducing losses,” Wu added.