Alibaba stock was falling after the e-commerce giant’s earnings fell short.
Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images
Alibaba stock was tumbling Thursday after the Chinese e-commerce giant’s quarterly results fell well short of expectations.
U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba (ticker: BABA) fell nearly 4% in premarket trading Thursday. The stock has declined almost 30% this year amid a broad crackdown by Beijing on Chinese technology companies. Alibaba
‘s Hong Kong-listed shares (9988.H.K.) slipped 5.3% Thursday ahead of earnings.
In the three months ended Sept. 30, which Alibaba reports as its second fiscal quarter, the company notched sales of $31.1 billion. Earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization—the preferred adjusted measure of profits—was $4.4 billion, delivering earnings per share of $1.74.
Wall Street’s expectations were for sales to be slightly below $40 billion, with earnings of $4.9 billion delivering EPS of $1.86.
Alibaba last week reported that it smashed its previous sales record for the two-week Singles Day event, China’s version of Black Friday and the world’s largest shopping spree.
As one of the world’s largest technology companies and a Chinese corporate heavyweight, Alibaba’s results are closely watched on their own merits. But they are also an important indication of sentiment among Chinese consumers, and, in turn, the strength of the world’s second-largest economy.
Competitor JD.com (JD) reported a more than 25% jump in third-quarter revenue Thursday, sending the stock 2.5% higher in premarket trading.
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