Alibaba's Q1 Report: 14% Revenue Growth, Strong Performance in Commerce, Cloud, and Entertainment

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA) reported first-quarter FY23 revenue growth of 14% year-on-year to $32.29 billion, beating the consensus of $31.20 billion. Non-GAAP earnings per ADS of $2.40 beat the consensus of $2.02. 

Segments: Taobao and Tmall Group revenue grew 12% Y/Y to $15.85 billion. Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group revenue increased by 41% Y/Y to $3.05 billion. Local Services Group revenue grew by 30% Y/Y to $1.99 billion. 

Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Limited's revenue increased 34% Y/Y to $3.19 billion. Cloud Intelligence Group grew by 4% Y/Y to $3.47 billion. Digital Media and Entertainment Group increased by 36% Y/Y to $742 million. All others grew by 1% Y/Y to $6.28 billion.

Taobao and Tmall Group: Revenue from China's commerce retail business grew by 13% Y/Y to $15.15 billion, led by Taobao and Tmall. Taobao app grew average daily active users (DAU) by 6.5% Y/Y. The growth also reflected a successful 6.18 Shopping Festival.

Direct sales and other revenue grew by 21% Y/Y to $4.16 billion, primarily due to strong sales driven by the consumer electronics category.

Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group: Revenue from International commerce retail business grew by 60% Y/Y to $2.36 billion, driven by the solid performance of all major retail platforms. AliExpress delivered robust order growth driven by the growth of transacting users. Lazada recorded double-digit order growth year-over-year during the quarter via more value-added services to merchants. Trendyol continued to deliver strong order growth driven by growth in both its e-commerce and local consumer services businesses. 

Cloud Intelligence Group: The storage, networks, and AI computing-related products drove the growth. During this quarter, DingTalk integrated the capabilities of Tongyi Qianwen and offered beta testing access to enterprise customers. 

Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Limited: Revenue grew primarily from the increase in revenue from international fulfillment solution services and domestic consumer logistics services.

Digital Media and Entertainment Group: During the quarter, Youku's total subscription revenue grew 5% year-over-year, primarily driven by increasing ARPU. Damai, a leading online ticketing platform for live events in China, saw strong revenue recovery driven by increasing demand for offline entertainment events. The revenue from Alibaba Pictures' movie and online platform business grew strongly year-over-year due to the launch of several blockbusters and robust China box office demands.

Alibaba generated $5.4 billion in free cash flow and ended the quarter with $80.6 billion in cash and equivalents.

Price Action: BABA shares traded higher by 3.32% at $98.00 premarket on the last check Thursday.