BEIJING: Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba surpassed analysts’ quarterly revenue expectations on Tuesday, driven by investments in one-hour delivery services and strong growth in its cloud division. Shares of the US-listed company rose 4% in premarket trading.
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Alibaba’s results come amid fierce competition in China’s “instant retail” sector, where major players, including JD.com and Meituan, are investing heavily in one-hour delivery to capture market share. Despite heavy industry-wide cash burn, Alibaba sees long-term potential, projecting the sector could generate 1 trillion yuan in annualized gross merchandise value over the next three years.
ALIBABA EARNINGS:
✅ REVENUE: $34.8 BILLION, UP 5% Y/Y, UP 15% EXCLUDING IMPACT OF ASSET SALES
❌ EPS MISSES BY A LITTLE
✅ CLOUD REVENUE ACCELERATES TO 34%
✅ CLOUD EBIT ACCELERATES TO 35%
❌ FCF: $-3 BILLION
$253 MILLION WORTH OF BUYBACKS pic.twitter.com/2wVgMF0E2v— A.J. Button (@AJButton2) November 25, 2025
CEO Eddie Wu said, “We have entered an investment phase to build long-term strategic value in AI technologies and infrastructure, and a consumption platform integrating daily life services and e-commerce.” Alibaba has also been making aggressive moves into consumer artificial intelligence, launching a free app based on its Qwen large language model, which exceeded 10 million downloads within its first week.
Alibaba – Q3 2025 Earnings$BABA 165.46 [+2.27% PM]
✅ Revenue: $33.9B (Est: $33.0B) [+9% YoY]
✅ EPS: $2.26 (Est: $2.10) [+18% YoY]Additional Metrics:
Cloud Revenue: $4.9B [+34% YoY]
International Commerce: $4.2B [+53% YoY]
China Commerce: $18.2B [+4% YoY]
Cainiao Logistics:… pic.twitter.com/KtWxqeJxL1— Sam Badawi (@samsolid57) November 25, 2025
The recent Singles’ Day sales period, spanning from early October to November 11, also boosted revenue, with Alibaba reporting a 9.3% increase in sales, outperforming JD.com’s 8.3% growth. Taobao, Alibaba’s marketplace, extended Singles’ Day promotions to over 20 countries, highlighting the company’s focus on overseas expansion.
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Analysts note that Alibaba’s shift toward consumer-facing AI and one-hour delivery comes amid an intensifying price war in China’s domestic AI and instant retail markets, forcing competitors to slash prices to keep pace. Despite these challenges, Alibaba continues to prioritize long-term strategic growth, balancing investment in AI with efforts to expand its e-commerce ecosystem.