Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA) shares jumped 7% in premarket trading on Thursday following a stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings report, driven by robust revenue growth across its core businesses.
The Chinese e-commerce giant posted adjusted earnings per share of RMB21.39 ($2.93), beating analyst forecasts of RMB19.81. Revenue for the quarter climbed 8% year-over-year (YoY) to RMB280.15 billion ($38.38 billion), also surpassing expectations of RMB277.03 billion.
Alibaba’s core platforms, Taobao and Tmall Group, saw a 9% increase in customer management revenue YoY, reaching RMB100.79 billion ($13.81 billion). The growth was driven by higher online gross merchandise volume and improved take rates.
Eddie Wu, CEO of Alibaba Group said,
“This quarter’s results demonstrated substantial progress in our ‘user first, AI-driven’ strategies and the re-accelerated growth of our core businesses.”
Meanwhile, Alibaba unit Cloud Intelligence Group posted a 13% YoY revenue growth to RMB31.74 billion ($4.35 billion), with AI-related product revenue continuing triple-digit growth for the sixth consecutive quarter.
Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group also delivered strong results, with revenue surging 32% YoY to RMB37.76 billion ($5.17 billion), driven by strength in cross-border businesses.
Alibaba forecasts fiscal year 2024 revenue growth to range between 8% and 10%, as it continues to focus on strategic priorities in e-commerce and cloud computing to drive long-term growth.
In a separate move, Jefferies raised its price target for Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA) to $156 from $150 just ahead of Q4 results. The firm also lifted its Hong Kong-listed share target to HK$151 from HK$145.
