Alibaba revenue surges 56%

Dive Brief:

Alibaba Group on Thursday said that its June quarter revenue rose 56% year over year to RMB 50.184 billion ($7.403 billion), with core commerce sales rising 58% year-over-year to RMB 43.027 billion ($6.347 billion) and revenue from its cloud computing business rising 96% year-over-year to RMB 2.431 billion ($.359 billion), according to a press release.
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, the company said. Mobile monthly active users on its China retail marketplaces reached 529 million in June, an increase of 22 million over March. China commerce retail revenue per annual active consumer increased to $40, up from $36 in the prior quarter, the company also said.
Operating margin in the quarter was 35%, adjusted EBITDA margin was 50% and adjusted EBITA margin for core commerce was 63%. Diluted earnings rose 92% year over year to RMB 5.65 (83 cents) per share and non-GAAP diluted earnings rose 65% to RMB 7.95 ($1.17) per share.

Dive Insight:

Alibaba turned in quarterly results that reflect healthy sales in a still-growing Chinese economy and benefit from a healthy middle class. But its robust numbers are also the fruits of its efforts to connect to Chinese consumers, socially and culturally, and build an e-commerce system that the company says will lead to consumer transactions of any kind that are friction-free. Speaking to investors Thursday, Alibaba Executive Vice Chairman Joe Tsai said that what the company calls "the Alibaba Economy" is "self-reinforcing" and must be looked at holistically.

While Alibaba expects the company’s results to be broken down into segments and data points, that’s not how the company approaches its operations and goals, he said. "As an investor, your perspective is how do we put a value on each piece of the business in order to understand the value of the entire company," he said. "But that’s not how our customers look at us. As a platform, the question we need to focus on is how do our businesses work together to create more value for consumers and enterprises than if these units were just stand-alone entities."

The e-commerce and cloud computing giant continues to be dogged by law enforcement action and brand and customer complaints about counterfeit sales at its Taobao and Tmall marketplaces. Last week the company told 180 brand representatives at its Brand Rights Holders Day that it’s beefing up its Intellectual Property Protection (IPP) Platform, using data to speed takedown requests from brands and rights holders. Some brands appear ready to give those efforts a chance: Earlier this month Gucci owner Kering said it has dropped its lawsuit against the Chinese e-commerce giant to work together on fighting sales of fakes.