Alibaba (BABA) Misses Q4 EPS by 2c, Sales Beat

Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) reported Q4 EPS of $0.63, $0.02 worse than the analyst estimate of $0.65. Revenue for the quarter came in at $5.61 billion versus the consensus estimate of $5.23 billion.

"Alibaba Group had another outstanding quarter and fiscal year, demonstrating our ability to successfully engage and monetize the half a billion consumers across our platforms," said Daniel Zhang, Chief Executive Officer of Alibaba Group. "Our core commerce segment continued its significant growth and strong cash flow at large scale, enabling our aggressive investment in cloud computing, digital media and entertainment to drive the digital transformation of the economy and high-quality consumption across China."

"We reported another excellent quarter, with revenue growth accelerating to 60%, the highest growth rate we’ve achieved since our IPO. We also reported very strong fiscal year revenue growth of 56% with annual non-GAAP free cash flow of approximately US$10 billion1," said Maggie Wu, Chief Financial Officer of Alibaba Group. "Our robust results demonstrate the strength of our core businesses, as well as the positive momentum of our emerging businesses, including cloud computing, where we continue to see strong growth and market leadership."

• Revenue was RMB38,579 million (US$5,605 million), an increase of 60% year-over-year.
  • Revenue from core commerce increased 47% year-over-year to RMB31,570 million (US$4,587 million).
  • Revenue from cloud computing increased 103% year-over-year to RMB2,163 million (US$314 million).
  • Revenue from digital media and entertainment increased 234% year-over-year to RMB3,927 million (US$571 million).
  • Revenue from innovation initiatives and others increased 88% year-over-year to RMB919 million (US$133 million).
• Annual active buyers on our China retail marketplaces reached 454 million, an increase of 11 million from the 12-month period ended in December 2016.
• Mobile MAUs on our China retail marketplaces reached 507 million in March, an increase of 14 million over December 2016.
• The number of paying customers of our cloud computing business grew to 874,000 from 765,000 in the previous quarter. Operating loss from cloud computing was RMB505 million (US$73 million) and adjusted EBITA loss was RMB169 million (US$24 million).
• Net income was RMB9,852 million (US$1,431 million), income from operations was RMB9,532 million (US$1,385 million) and adjusted EBITDA was RMB16,597 million (US$2,411 million). Operating margin was 25%, adjusted EBITDA margin was 43% and adjusted EBITA margin for core commerce was 59%.
• Diluted EPS was RMB4.12 (US$0.60) and non-GAAP diluted EPS was RMB4.35 (US$0.63).
• Net cash provided by operating activities was RMB10,746 million (US$1,561 million) and non-GAAP free cash flow was RMB7,980 million (US$1,159 million).

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Alibaba (BABA) click here.

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