Alibaba adjusted at the beginning of trading today, with an intraday decline of nearly 7%. As of publication, it fell 6.34% to HKD 70.15.
Alibaba announced its performance yesterday. According to the company's data for the three months ended December 31, 2023 (Q3 of fiscal year 2024), the revenue was RMB 260.35 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5%, and an estimated RMB 261.25 billion. The net profit was 10.717 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 77%; Not in accordance with US GAAP, the net profit was 47.951 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 4%.
Note: Alibaba's performance
The company explained that the decline in Alibaba's net profit was due to changes in the valuation of its equity investments at market value, as well as a decrease in operating profit caused by the mentioned impairment.
From a specific business perspective, the year-on-year growth rate of Taotian Group and cloud computing, which have received much market attention, is not significant. Taotian Group's revenue was 129.07 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2%, while Alibaba Cloud's revenue increased by 3%, reaching 28.066 billion yuan.
In other business sectors, Alibaba International Digital Business Group's revenue increased by 44% year-on-year, reaching 28.516 billion yuan, with AliExpress's cross-border business Choice driving over 60% of the year-on-year growth in orders. Cainiao Network's revenue increased by 24%, reaching 28.476 billion yuan; The revenue of the local lifestyle group increased by 13%, reaching 15.16 billion yuan; The revenue of Da Wen Yu Group was 5.04 billion yuan, an increase of 18% year-on-year.
Announce an additional $25 billion in stock buybacks
At the same time as Alibaba announced its performance, they announced an additional $25 billion new share repurchase plan, with a total repurchase scale of $65 billion (approximately RMB 467.662 billion). The repurchase period will be extended until the end of March 2027.
Not long ago, Alibaba founders Jack Ma and Chongxin Cai also significantly increased their holdings in Alibaba stocks. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Jack Ma increased his holdings of approximately $50 million worth of Alibaba stocks, which increased his shareholding to over 4.3% and made him the largest single shareholder of Alibaba.
Alibaba's current chairman, Cai Chongxin, purchased $150 million in Alibaba stocks through his family investment platform, Blue Pool Capital Management, in the fourth quarter of 2023, making Cai Chongxin the second largest shareholder after Jack Ma.
Responding to market concerns and hot topics
In recent years, there have been frequent rumors in the market that Alibaba intends to sell Intime Department Store, Hema, Ele.me, and other products. Some sales rumors were quickly debunked, but there are still many speculations in the market about the specific situation of Alibaba selling "non core assets".
At the financial report meeting on the evening of February 7th, Alibaba Group Chairman Cai Chongxin said, "We still have some traditional physical retail business on our balance sheet, which is not our core focus. If we can complete the exit, it is also very reasonable." However, Alibaba executives also emphasized that considering the current market situation, the exit will take time to slowly realize.