Sales did not reach analysts’ expectations in the first quarter (April-June) financial results announced on the 3rd by Alibaba Group Holding, the largest e-commerce company in China. Intensifying competition with peers such as JD.com and Pinduoduo, and the deregulation of behavioral restrictions related to the new coronavirus have led consumers to spend more on physical stores than online. Affected.
Sales were 205.74 billion yuan ($ 31.83 billion), up about 34% year-on-year, and analysts’ forecasts based on Refinitiv’s IBES data were 209.39 billion yuan. Sales from e-commerce, a core business that grew by more than 70% in the same period of the previous year, increased by about 35% to 180,240 million yuan. Sales of the cloud computing business increased by 29% to 16.05 billion yuan.
Net profit decreased from 47.59 billion yuan in the same period of the previous year to 45.140 billion yuan. However, adjusted earnings per share was 16.60 yuan, exceeding analysts’ forecast of 14.43 yuan.
The profit from the investment in the affiliated financial company Ant Group was 4.49 billion yuan.
Daniel Zhang, CEO, said he will continue to watch how the regulatory changes being made by Chinese regulators will affect Alibaba’s business.