Alibaba demonstrate “substantial progress in ‘user first, AI-driven’ strategies”

Alibaba  has announced its financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2024.

“This quarter’s results demonstrated substantial progress in our ‘user first, AI-driven’ strategies and the reaccelerated growth of our core businesses. During this quarter, customer management revenue at Taobao and Tmall Group grew 9% as a result of initiatives to enhance user experience and effective monetisation.

Our Cloud revenue growth reignited to double digits at 13%, with AI-related product revenue achieving triple-digit growth for the sixth consecutive quarter. Looking ahead, revenue growth at Cloud Intelligence Group driven by AI will continue to accelerate. We will continue to execute against our strategic priorities in e-commerce and cloud computing, including further investment to drive long-term growth,” said Eddie Wu, Chief Executive Officer of Alibaba Group.

“While we made substantial investments to spark growth re-acceleration in our core businesses, we maintained financial discipline with enhanced operational efficiency, achieving positive EBITA growth in Taobao and Tmall Group. During the quarter, we continued to actively manage our balance sheet with significant non-core asset sales, share buybacks, and extending our debt maturities at attractive rates,” said Toby Xu, Chief Financial Officer of Alibaba Group.

Business Highlights (Quarter Ended December 31, 2024)

• Revenue: RMB280,154 million (US$38,381 million), an 8% year-over-year increase.
• Income from Operations: RMB41,205 million (US$5,645 million), an 83% year-over-year increase, primarily due to:
  • Decrease in impairment of intangible assets.
  • Increase in adjusted EBITA.
• Adjusted EBITA (Non-GAAP): RMB54,853 million (US$7,515 million), a 4% year-over-year increase, driven by:
  • Revenue growth.
  • Improved operating efficiency.
  • Offset by increased investments in e-commerce businesses.
• Net Income Attributable to Ordinary Shareholders: RMB48,945 million (US$6,705 million).
• Net Income: RMB46,434 million (US$6,361 million), a 333% year-over-year increase, primarily due to:
  • Increase in income from operations.
  • Mark-to-market changes from equity investments.
  • Increase in share of results of equity method investees.
  • Partly offset by increased impairment of investments