When Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) reported its fiscal second-quarter financial results first thing on Thursday, the e-commerce giant said that it had $1.29 in earnings per share (EPS) and $8.29 billion in revenue. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters had called for $1.03 in EPS on revenue of $7.85 billion. In the same period of last year, the company posted EPS of $0.79 and $5.16 billion in revenue.
During the quarter, annual active consumers in China retail marketplaces reached 488 million, an increase of 22 million from the 12-month period ended June 30, 2017.
At the same time, mobile monthly active users in China retail marketplaces reached 549 million in September 2017, an increase of 20 million sequentially.
In terms of revenue from its segments, the company reported as follows:
- Core commerce, up 63% year over year to $6.98 billion.
- Cloud computing, up 99% to $447 million.
- Digital media and entertainment, up 33% to $721 million.
- Innovation initiatives and others, up 27% to $134 million.
The company did not offer any guidance for the coming quarter, but the consensus forecast is $1.64 in EPS and $11.72 billion in revenue. Looking even further ahead, analysts are calling for EPS of $4.88 and $35.62 billion in revenue for the 2018 fiscal year.
Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba, commented:
We had an outstanding quarter. Our consumer insights and technology innovation were the key drivers behind our customer value proposition across the Alibaba economy. We are seeing the early results from our efforts to integrate online and offline with our New Retail strategy, and consumers have benefited from access to high quality products, improved customer experience and the tremendous convenience of shopping anytime, anywhere.
Shares of Alibaba were last seen up 1% at $187.92, after earlier reaching a new 52-week high of $191.21. The consensus analyst price target is $197.23, and the 52-week low is $86.01.
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