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Bloomberg
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd soared after reporting revenue rose a better-than-expected 9%, reassuring investors trying to come to grips with the economic cost of sweeping lockdowns intended to eradicate Covid-19.
The shares rose more than 12% in Hong Kong after the company reported revenue climbed to 204.05 billion yuan ($30.3 billion) in the March quarter, beating analysts’ projections. Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zhang emphasized his company would pursue higher-quality expansion, keep a lid on costs and keep expanding its ability to build cloud and digital infrastructure for customers. SoftBank Group Corp, Alibaba’s biggest shareholder, gained 4.5% in Tokyo.
But China’s e-commerce leader also refrained from offering its usual revenue forecast for the year, underscoring the unpredictable impact of a Covid Zero policy that’s already cast the country’s supply chains into disarray and hammered consumer sentiment. Alibaba — a barometer for Chinese consumer sentiment because of its dominance of Asia’s largest retail arena — is grappling with intensifying competition and mounting economic uncertainty at home. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang warned of dire consequences if officials didn’t move decisively to safeguard the economy.
Alibaba will play its part in helping shore up the economy, Zhang told analysts on a post-earnings conference call. The company’s own revenues had slid by a single-digit percentage in April, though logistics were improving in areas such as hard-hit Shanghai as Covid cases came down.