Jack Ma's Alibaba Misses On Q1 Revenue Despite Clocking 1.18B Global Annual Active Customers; Raises Stock Buyback To $15B

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA reported first-quarter FY22 revenue growth of 34% year-on-year to $31.87 billion, missing the analyst consensus of $32.54 billion.

Financials: Robust revenue growth of the China commerce retail business drove the numbers, including the Oct. 2020 consolidation of Sun Art and the revenue growth of Cainiao logistics services and international commerce retail businesses. 

Global annual active consumers reached 1.18 billion for the twelve months ended June 30. 

Commerce revenue grew 35.2% Y/Y to $27.9 billion. China commerce retail revenue increased 34% Y/Y to $21 billion, while China commerce wholesale rose 13% Y/Y to $608 million.

International commerce retail grew 54% Y/Y to $1.7 billion, and International commerce wholesale rose 37% Y/Y to $682 million.

Cainiao logistics services expanded 50% Y/Y to $1.8 billion, Local consumer services grew 23% Y/Y to $1.4 billion, and Others grew 42% Y/Y to $767 million.

Revenue from Cloud computing increased 29.1% Y/Y to $2.5 billion, driven by robust growth in revenue from customers in the Internet, financial services, and retail industries.

Digital media and entertainment revenue rose 15.4% Y/Y to $1.3 billion. Revenue from innovation initiatives and others climbed 37.2% Y/Y to $213 million.

In June 2021, the China retail marketplaces had 939 million mobile MAUs, representing a quarterly net increase of 14 million. Sun Art achieved 28% Y/Y growth in online orders, Lazada recorded over 90% Y/Y order growth, while Youku's daily average subscriber base increased 17% Y/Y.

The operating margin contracted 800 bps to 15% due to strategic investments, growth initiatives, and support to merchants. Adjusted EBITDA decreased 5% Y/Y to $7.53 billion due to strategic investments like Community Marketplaces, Taobao Deals, Local Consumer Services, and Lazada, and increased spending on growth initiatives within China retail marketplaces, like Idle Fish and Taobao Live, and support to merchants. The adjusted EBITA margin contracted 1,000 bps to 20%.

Non-GAAP net income rose 10% Y/Y to $6.73 billion. Non-GAAP EPS of $2.57 beat the analyst consensus of $2.24. Alibaba generated $5.2 billion in operating cash flow and held $72.9 billion in cash and equivalents.

Stock Buyback: The company raised its share repurchase program from $10 billion to $15 billion.

Price Action: BABA shares traded lower by 0.87% at $198.75 in the premarket session on the last check Tuesday.

See also: How To Buy Alibaba Stock

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