Alibaba Shares Tumble As Revenue Falls Short Of Estimates

Alibaba Group Holdings Inc. shares slumped almost 5% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the Chinese e-commerce giant reported weaker-than-expected revenue for its fiscal first quarter. Alibaba said it had net income of $4.97 billion, or $1.92 a share, in the quarter, with the net number up 148% from the year-earlier quarter. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 59 cents, ahead of the FactSet consensus of 56 cents. But revenue of $3.265 billion was up 28% from a year ago, and below the FactSet consensus of $3.320 billion. Gross merchandise volumes on China retail marketplaces came to $109 billion, up 34%. Mobile GMV climbed 125% to $60 billion and accounted for 55% of total GMV transacted on China retail marketplaces. Mobile revenue came to $1.288 billion, exceeding 50% of total China commerce retail revenue for the first time, the company said. The company said its board has approved a share buyback of up to $4 billion, primarily to offset dilution caused by share-based compensation programs. Shares are down 26% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has gained 1.2%.