Alibaba Crushes Analyst Predictions with Q1 Growth Results

Alibaba has reported its Q1 results, beating out analyst predictions and registering massive gains.

The massive e-commerce company, which is tops in China, reported a 56 per cent rise in revenue for the first quarter ending June 30. The growth came from unexpectedly strong online sales, a sector that makes up most of the company’s business. Alibaba Holding Group Ltd. is one of the largest and most valuable companies in Asia.

As China becomes more attracted to online shopping and the notion of buying everything from food to household items in the comfort of their homes, Alibaba has seen its stock shoot up by over 80 per cent this year alone. In January, stock prices sat just below $87 (all figures USD). After these strong results, the price now sits at over $166. This increase comes from a strong commerce business and formidable growth in the company’s cloud computing and entertainment units.

Alibaba’s revenue rose to $7.4 billion billion during the first quarter, beating out most analyst predictions by close to $360 million. E-commerce made up 86 per cent of revenue, up from 73 a year prior.

One of the most shocking figures shows that Alibaba’s cloud computing revenue grew 96 per cent, up to $359 million total. The number of customers using the services grew to over one million, up from 577,000 year-over-year. The company’s entertainment business revenue grew 30 per cent to $602 million.

Net income to the company’s shareholders also grew by 83 cents per share.

“Our technology is driving significant growth across our business and strengthening our position beyond core commerce,” Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said in a statement.

Alibaba has made several bets in its growing e-commerce infrastructure lately, as it invested more than $1 billion in the Singapore-based platform Lazada Group. Alibaba continues to try and make strides in other parts of the world as well by targeting US and Russian merchants. However, some of the investments from the company have yet to pan out, including a $2.6 billion bet on Chinese department store chain Intime Retail Group Co Ltd.