Alibaba Makes AI-driven Comeback, Revenue Jumps 8%

Alibaba reported a sharp revenue jump for its latest third quarter, thanks to robust AI products and e-commerce growth.

For the three months ended Dec. 31, the Chinese tech giant’s revenue jumped 8 percent year-over-year to 280.1 billion renminbi, or $38.3 billion, beating analysts’ expectations.

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Profit surged 239 percent to reach 48.9 billion renminbi, or $6.7 billion, thanks to strong growth in its AI infrastructure and “the increase in income from operations, market-to-market changes from our equity investments, and the increase in share of results of equity method investees,” Alibaba explained.

According to Eddie Wu, chief executive officer of Alibaba Group, the company made substantial progress in its “user-first, AI-driven” strategy and “reaccelerated growth of our core businesses.”

“During this quarter, customer management revenue at Taobao and Tmall Group grew 9 percent as a result of initiatives to enhance user experience and effective monetization. Our Cloud revenue growth reignited to double digits at 13 percent, with AI-related product revenue achieving triple-digit growth for the sixth consecutive quarter,” Wu said.

Alibaba recently launched Qwen 2.5, its ChatGPT-like product first launched in 2023. Beating fierce rivals like DeepSeek, Bytedance and Tencent, Alibaba scored a deal with Apple to incorporate AI technology into its iPhone products. According to local media reports, Baidu will also be involved in Apple’s localized AI offerings.

For its core Taobao and Tmall e-commerce business unit, revenue rose 5 percent year-over-year to 136 billion renminbi, or $18.6 billion during the quarter. Its 88VIP loyalty program, which includes the platform’s highest-spending consumer group, increased by double digits to reach 49 million during the quarter.

The upbeat results reflect Alibaba founder Jack Ma’s “user-first” strategy, which Ma proposed during an informal company meeting in late May.

Last week, Ma appeared again during a private sector symposium attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping alongside tech leaders such as Tencent’s Pony Ma and DeepSeek’s Liang Wenfeng. The meeting signals Beijing’s support of China’s private sector — particularly the tech sector, which endured years of crackdown, according to local media analysis.

Alibaba’s International Digital Commerce branch, which includes e-commerce platforms such as Lazard and AliExpress, jumped 32 percent year-over-year to 37.7 billion renminbi, or $5.1 billion, which the company attributed to its continued investment in overseas shopping festivals and selected European markets and the Gulf region.

During the quarter, Alibaba’s overseas e-commerce branch formed a joint venture with Shinsegae in South Korea, which will operate AliExpress Korea and Gmarket, an established South Korean e-commerce platform.

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