Alibaba Stock Soars 7.56% After Strong JD.com Results

Alibaba stock (BABA) saw a 7.66% gain in afternoon trading on Thursday, thanks to a revenue beat from JD.com. Despite the slight revenue boost, Alibaba's earnings and revenue growth accelerated slightly from the prior quarter, up 13% and 2%, respectively. On an adjusted basis, Alibaba (BABA) earned $1.40 a share, down 10% year over year, while revenue edged higher by 1% to $30.7 billion. The company announced a two-part dividend, including an annual cash dividend of $1 per American depository share and a "one-time extraordinary cash dividend" of 66 cents per ADS, totaling $4 billion.

In late March, Alibaba (BABA) abandoned plans to list its logistics arm in Hong Kong, but the news did not lift Alibaba stock (BABA) out of its downtrend. The cancellation of the listing poses more challenges to a restructuring plan announced last year by Alibaba (BABA), which would have split the e-commerce giant into six separate companies.

BABA stock rallied sharply on February 6 after the company reported fiscal Q3 revenue of $36.7 billion, up 2% from the year-ago quarter and slightly above the $36.16 billion consensus. However, adjusted profit fell 4% to $2.67 a a share. Investors also liked the fact that Alibaba (BABA) added $25 billion to its share buyback program through March 2027.

Alibaba stock (BABA) plunged in mid-November despite reporting an 18% rise in quarterly profit and a 6% increase in revenue. The company surged on Jan. 23 on reports that co-founder Jack Ma and business associate Joe Tsai have been buying shares of BABA stock in recent months. In September, Alibaba (BABA) came under selling pressure after outgoing CEO Daniel Zhang unexpectedly stepped down as head of the company's cloud business.

Alibaba stock (BABA) surged above its 200-day moving average on July 7, following Chinese regulators fined the company's financial arm, Ant Group, just under $1 billion. In April 2021, Alibaba (BABA) was hit with a $2.8 billion fine in an anti-monopoly probe. However, after three years of regulatory scrutiny, optimism is building that Beijing is close to ending its crackdown on tech firms. In March 2023, Alibaba (BABA) announced plans to separate into six separate units, each with the ability to raise outside funding and even pursue an IPO. The company is likely to maintain its cloud/artificial intelligence business and giant e-commerce operations.

In April 2020, China regulators fined Alibaba (BABA) $2.8 billion after an antimonopoly probe. At the time, it appeared that Alibaba stock (BABA) was ready to break out of a downtrend but got turned away at its 50-day moving average. It tried to rally above the 50-day line again in late April but sellers knocked the stock lower again.

According to recent reports, Alibaba (BABA) is expected to earn $7.98 a share in fiscal year 2025, down 7% compared to fiscal 2024. For fiscal 2026, earnings are expected to rise 14% to $9.07 a share.