Alibaba shares rise as Q3 earnings top estimates

Investing.com -- Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA) reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings on Thursday, sending its shares up 3.2% in premarket trading.

The company posted adjusted earnings per share of RMB15.06 ($2.15), beating analyst estimates of RMB14.79, but falling 4% year-over-year. Revenue came in at RMB236.5 billion ($33.7 billion), up 5% YoY but slightly below the consensus forecast of RMB239.97 billion.

Alibaba's core China commerce retail business saw customer management revenue increase 2% YoY to RMB70.4 billion, driven by online GMV growth. The company's Cloud Intelligence Group revenue rose 7% to RMB29.6 billion, with AI-related product revenue growing in triple digits.

"This quarter we continued to invest in the user experience and strengthen product offerings to serve our consumers," said CEO Eddie Wu. "We are more confident in our core businesses than ever and will continue to invest in supporting long-term growth."

The company repurchased $4.1 billion worth of shares during the quarter. Alibaba's free cash flow declined 70% YoY to RMB13.7 billion, which it attributed to investments in cloud infrastructure and other factors.

While revenue growth was modest, investors appeared encouraged by the earnings beat, driving the stock higher in early Friday trading.