Alibaba Q1 Earnings: Revenue Miss Amid Price War, Profit Beat, International Commerce and Cloud Segments Shine

Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA stock is trading lower Thursday after the company’s fiscal first-quarter print. The Chinese e-commerce juggernaut is fighting intense domestic e-commerce rivalry in a weak domestic economy. 

The Jack Ma co-founded e-commerce giant reported fiscal first-quarter 2024 revenue growth of 4% year-on-year to $33.47 billion, missing the analyst consensus estimate of $34.81 billion. Adjusted earnings per ADS of $2.26 beat the analyst consensus estimate of $2.13. 

Net income plunged 29% Y/Y to $3.34 billion. Adjusted net income declined 9% Y/Y to $5.6 billion.

Segments: Taobao and Tmall Group revenue declined by 1% year over year to $15.60 billion. Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group revenue increased by 32% year over year to $4.03 billion. Local Services Group revenue grew by 12% year over year to $2.23 billion, driven by Ele.me and Amap. 

Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Limited’s revenue increased 16% year over year to $3.69 billion, primarily due to revenue from cross-border fulfillment services. 

Cloud Intelligence Group revenue grew by 6% Y/Y to $3.65 billion. Digital Media and Entertainment Group increased Y/Y by 4% Y/Y to $768 million, primarily driven by GMV and revenue growth of its online ticketing platform for live events. All other revenue grew by 3% Y/Y at $6.47 billion.

In the Taobao and Tmall Group, customer management revenue grew 1% year over year, primarily due to a high-single-digit year-over-year growth in online GMV.

Revenue from China’s commerce retail business declined by 2% year over year to $14.78 billion, and direct sales and other revenue declined by 9% year over year to $3.76 billion.

Revenue from China’s commerce wholesale business grew by 16% Y/Y to $819 million.

Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group: International commerce retail business revenue grew by 38% year over year to $3.26 billion, driven by order growth from AliExpress’ Choice. 

International commerce wholesale business revenue grew by 12% year over year to $771 million.

Cloud Intelligence Group: Overall revenue excluding Alibaba-consolidated subsidiaries increased by 6% year over year, mainly driven by the double-digit revenue growth of public cloud products, including AI-related products.

“Our focus on enhancing user experience by offering quality products at attractive prices with great service led to stabilizing market share of Taobao and Tmall Group as we returned the business on the growth trajectory. The cloud business achieved positive revenue growth momentum, driven by public cloud and AI-related product adoption as we continue to invest to maintain our market leadership,” said Eddie Wu, Chief Executive Officer of Alibaba Group.

Price Action: BABA shares traded lower by 2.99% at $77.10 premarket at the last check on Thursday.

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