Alibaba revenue edges up to US$33.5 billion but misses estimates in June quarter

The tech giant’s revenue grew 4 per cent, while profits were down 29 per cent to US$3.3 billion, as it seeks to shore up e-commerce and cloud services

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Signage at Alibaba’s headquarters in Hangzhou on August 2, 2024. Photo: Bloomberg

Ann Caoin Shanghai,Ben Jiangin BeijingandKelly Le

Published: 6:55pm, 15 Aug 2024Updated: 9:44pm, 15 Aug 2024

Alibaba Group Holding saw revenue grow 4 per cent in the June quarter, missing estimates, as the tech giant navigates an economic slowdown after seeing e-commerce growth during the 618 shopping festival and rising demand for its cloud services.

Alibaba’s revenue rose to 243.2 billion yuan (US$34 billion), slower than the previous quarter’s 7 per cent growth. Revenue from the cloud computing business, which was the online broadcasting partner for the 2024 Paris Olympics, rose 6 per cent to 26.5 billion yuan. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

Profits fell 29 per cent to 24.3 billion yuan, worse than the 30.4 billion yuan expected by analysts. The company’s adjusted EBITA, a measure under non-generally accepted accounting principles, dropped 1 per cent year on year to 45 billion yuan in the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of 42.6 billion yuan.

“Our results this quarter demonstrated our strategy at work. Our focus on enhancing user experience by offering quality products at attractive prices with great service led to stabilising market share of Taobao and Tmall Group, as we returned the business on the growth trajectory,” Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu Yongming said in a statement on Thursday. “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.”

The logos of Alibaba’s main domestic e-commerce apps, Taobao and Tmall, are displayed on smartphones. Photo: Reuters

In the earnings call with analysts, Alibaba chief financial officer Toby Xu said the company is on its way to complete the dual primary listing in Hong Kong before the end of this month, as previously announced in May, after obtaining shareholders’ approval at its annual general meeting next Thursday.