Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) on Friday beat profit expectations in its September quarter, but sales fell short as sluggishness in the world’s second-largest economy hit consumer spending.
Alibaba said net income rose 58% year-on-year to 43.9 billion Chinese yuan ($6.07 billion) in the company’s quarter ending Sept. 30, on the back of the performance of its equity investments. This compares to an LSEG forecast of 25.83 billion yuan.
“The year-over-year increases were primarily attributable to the mark-to-market changes from our equity investments, decrease in impairment of our investments and increase in income from operations,” the company said of the annual profit jump in its earnings statement.
Revenue, meanwhile, came in at 236.5 billion yuan, 5% higher year-on-year but below an analyst forecast of 238.9 billion yuan, according to LSEG data.
The company’s New York-listed shares have gained ground this year to date, up almost 17%. The stock was 3% higher in premarket trading at 12:24 p.m. London time, after the release of the quarterly earnings. They opened in New York down $1.74, or 1.9%, to $88.80.
Investors are closely watching the performance of Alibaba’s main business units, Taobao and Tmall Group, which reported a 1% annual uptick in revenue to 98.99 billion yuan in the September quarter.
