Alibaba's Stock Drops After Sales Rise Less Than Expected

Shares of Alibaba tumbled 7.1% in premarket trade Thursday, after the Chinese e-commerce giant beat fiscal third-quarter profit expectations, but sales that rose less than expected. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, adjusted earnings, which excludes non-recurring items, rose 25% to the equivalent of $2.11 billion, or 81 cents a share, above the FactSet consensus analyst estimate of 75 cents a share. Revenue rose 40% to $4.22 billion, missing analyst forecasts of $4.44 billion, as mobile revenue climbed 448% to $1.04 billion. Gross merchandise volume in Alibaba's China retail marketplace rose 49% to $127 billion. The stock has edged up 0.1% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 has gained 1%.