Alibaba shares down as Q3 revenue falls short; earnings beat expectations

Investing.com -- Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE:BABA ) Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA) reported mixed third-quarter results on Friday, sending its shares down over 2% following the market open. 

The company posted adjusted earnings per share of RMB15.06 ($2.15), beating analyst estimates of RMB14.79, but falling 4% year-over-year. Revenue came in at RMB236.5 billion ($33.7 billion), up 5% YoY but slightly below the consensus forecast of RMB239.97 billion.

Alibaba's core China commerce retail business saw customer management revenue (CMR) increase 2% YoY to RMB70.4 billion, driven by online gross merchandise value (GMV) growth with take rate stable year-over-year. This implies GMV grown in the "low single digits, a slight miss vs. our estimate," Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS ) analysts said. 

The company's Cloud Intelligence Group revenue rose 7% to RMB29.6 billion, with AI-related product revenue growing in triple digits.

"This quarter we continued to invest in the user experience and strengthen product offerings to serve our consumers," said CEO Eddie Wu. "We are more confident in our core businesses than ever and will continue to invest in supporting long-term growth."

Alibaba's total adjusted EBITDA fell 5% during the quarter, in line with consensus estimates. 

The company repurchased $4.1 billion worth of shares during the quarter. Alibaba's free cash flow declined 70% YoY to RMB13.7 billion, which it attributed to investments in cloud infrastructure and other factors.

Sam Boughedda contributed to this report. 

Source: Investing.com