Is Alibaba the Next Amazon — Spending on Growth at the Expense of Returns?

Adjusted net income and EPS do not include share-based compensation expenses of $490 million, amortization of intangible assets of $97 million and depreciation and amortization expenses of $89 million. Adjusted EBITDA totaled $1.38 billion, compared with $708 million in operating income.

Costs of revenue rose from 27.4% of revenue a year ago to 33.3% in the quarter, primarily due to an increase in share-based compensation and in increase in expenses in Alibaba’s Cloud Computing and data platform.

Sales and marketing expense rose from 6% in the year-ago quarter to 10.4% in the September quarter as Alibaba spend more “to promote our China retail marketplaces … when intense global interest in Alibaba enhanced the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.”

Alibaba grew revenue 54% compared with the year-ago quarter and gross merchandise volume in China jumped 49%, with an increase of 52% in annual active buyers and 217 million monthly active mobile users, up 138.5% year-over-year.

The company’s CFO said:

We continue to execute our focused growth strategy, and the fundamental strength of our business gives us the confidence to invest in new initiatives to add new users, improving engagement and customer experience, expand our products and services and drive long-term shareholder value.

Investors are probably slightly disappointed in the numbers given the hype and hope surrounding the IPO and the share price growth since then. Some may even be wondering if the company is aiming at being another Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN).

Shares were down about 0.1% in premarket trading Tuesday, at $101.61 in a post-IPO range of $82.81 to $102.80. The high was set Monday. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $110.00 before the results were announced.

ALSO READ: Alibaba Analysts Come Out Swinging With Big Upside Calls