Alibaba Shares Jump On Upbeat Results

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA jumped more than 8 percent in pre-market trading after the company reported stronger-than-expected results for the fourth quarter. Alibaba posted quarterly earnings of $463 million, or $0.18 per share. Excluding items, the company's earnings gained 7 percent to $0.48 per share. Its revenue climbed to $2.81 billion in the quarter. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.42 per share on revenue of $2.77 billion. The average estimate among 60 Estimize users was for earnings of $0.45 per share and revenue of $2.79 billion. Mobile GMV during the quarter accounted for 51 percent of Alibaba's overall transactions, compared to 27 percent in the year-ago period. The number of monthly active users on its mobile platforms climbed to 289 million in December, versus 163 million in the year-ago period. Annual active buyers surged 37 percent. Gross merchandise volume on its China retail marketplaces climbed 40 percent. As of March 31, Alibaba had $19.74 billion in cash, versus $21.07 billion as of December 31, 2014. Alibaba named Daniel Zhang as CEO of Alibaba Group, effective May 10, 2015. "Alibaba performed very well, growing revenue 45% year-on-year," said Maggie Wu, Chief Financial Officer of Alibaba Group. "We continue to execute our growth strategy and focus on long-term value creation. The fundamental strength of our business gives us the confidence to invest in new initiatives, add new users, improve customer experience and expand our products and services." Alibaba shares surged 8.30 percent to $86.64 in pre-market trading.