Alibaba Posts Weaker-Than-Expected Profit, Revenue

By Tracy Qu

Alibaba Group delivered weaker-than-expected profit and revenue in the latest quarter as the e-commerce titan focused on getting growth back on track amid fierce domestic competition, a weakened Chinese economy and changing consumer behaviors.

The Chinese company said Thursday that net profit for the three months ended June fell 29% from a year earlier to 24.27 billion yuan, equivalent to $3.40 billion. The result missed expectations of 28.175 billion yuan in a FactSet poll of analysts.

First-quarter revenue rose 3.9% to 243.24 billion yuan but undershot analysts' estimates of 246.36 billion yuan. Revenue growth also slowed from the 6.6% expansion in the preceding quarter.

"Our focus on enhancing user experience by offering quality products at attractive prices with great service led to stabilizing market share of [domestic e-commerce unit] Taobao and Tmall Group as we returned the business on the growth trajectory," Chief Executive Eddie Wu said.

The Hangzhou-based company has been grappling with sluggish growth as it faces a cooling Chinese economy and rising competition from the likes of PDD's Pinduoduo e-commerce platform and ByteDance's short-video app Douyin. It has shifted its strategy to prioritize long-term growth over substantial near-term profits to regain its past market dominance.

Write to Tracy Qu at tracy.qu@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 15, 2024 07:14 ET (11:14 GMT)

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