Alibaba Sees Huge Growth From the Cloud

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 12, 9:03AM EST · Published Aug 17, 8:45AM EDT

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Alibaba Sees Huge Growth From the Cloud — © courtesy of Alibaba Group

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) released its fiscal first-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Thursday. The Chinese e-commerce giant said that it had $1.17 in earnings per share (EPS) and $7.4 billion in revenue, which compared with consensus estimates of $0.93 in EPS and revenue of $7.13 billion. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.74 and $4.84 billion in revenue.

During the quarter, annual active consumers on Alibaba’s China retail marketplaces reached 466 million, an increase of 12 million from the 12-month period ended March 31, 2017.

At the same time, mobile monthly active users on the China retail marketplaces totaled 529 million in June, an increase of 22 million sequentially.

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In terms of its segments, the company reported the following:

Revenue from core commerce increased 58% year over year to $6.35 billion.
Revenue from cloud computing increased 96% year over year to $359 million.
Revenue from digital media and entertainment increased 30% year over year to $602 million.
Revenue from innovation initiatives and others increased 21% year over year to $95 million.

On the books, Alibaba ended the quarter with $21.9 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.

Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba, commented:

Alibaba had a strong start to fiscal 2018, reflecting the strength and diversity of our businesses and the value we bring to customers on our platforms. Our technology is driving significant growth across our business and strengthening our position beyond core commerce. We are excited about the future as we continue to innovate and drive synergies among the businesses throughout the Alibaba ecosystem.

Shares of Alibaba closed Wednesday at $159.50, with a consensus analyst price target of $171.44 and a 52-week range of $86.01 to $160.39. Following the announcement, the stock was up over 5% at $168.00 in early trading indications Thursday.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.