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Alibaba (BABA) Misses Q1 Earnings Estimates, Beats Revenues

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Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA - Free Report) reported first-quarter fiscal 2019 earnings of $1.22 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 7 cents. However, earnings increased 5% year over year.

Alibaba reported revenues of RMB80.9 billion (US$12.23 billion), up 61% from the prior-year quarter. Also, revenues came in slightly above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of US$12.25 billion.

The revenue increase was driven by strength in the company’s core e-commerce business.

Notably, its shares have lost 1.3% in the past 12 months against the industry’s growth of 42.6%.

 

Revenues by Segments

Alibaba has four reportable segments — Core Commerce, Cloud Computing, Digital Media and Entertainment, and Innovation Initiatives. The details of these segments are discussed below.

Core Commerce: This segment comprises marketplaces operating in retail and wholesale commerce in China, and international commerce. Revenues in the quarter were RMB69.2 billion (US$10.5 billion), reflecting an increase of 61% on a year-over-year basis.

· China commerce retail business (67% of the total revenues) This business vertical’s revenues in the quarter were RMB54 billion (US$8.2 billion), reflecting an increase of 47% year over year. The increase was driven by robust growth in the company’s New Retail businesses, mainly Tmall Import, Hema fresh food grocery business and Intime Department Stores.

· China commerce wholesale business (3% of the total revenues) — This business generated revenues of RMB2.2 billion (US$340 million), reflecting an increase of 26% from the year-ago quarter. The increasewas due to a rise in average revenues from paying members.

· International commerce retail business (6% of the total revenues) — Revenues in the quarter were RMB4.3 billion (US$652 million), increasing 64% year over year. The increase was driven by robust GMV growth in two marketplaces, namely Lazada and AliExpress.

· International commerce wholesale business (2% of the total revenues) — This business generated revenues of RMB1.8 billion (US$278 million), increasing 14% from the prior-year quarter. The growth was due to an increase in the number of paying members on alibaba.com platform.

· Cainiao logistics services (4% of the total revenues) — This business generated revenues of RMB3.3 billion (US$503 million). This segment represents revenues from domestic and cross-border fulfilment services provided by Cainiao Network, after elimination of inter-company transactions.

· Consumer services (3% of the total revenues) — This business generated revenues of RMB2.6 billion (US$395 million).

· Others business (1% of the total revenues) — This business generated revenues of RMB878 million (US$132 million), reflecting an increase of 106% year over year.

Cloud Computing: This segment comprises Alibaba Cloud that offers a complete suite of cloud services. Revenues in the quarter were RMB4.7 billion (US$710 million), up 93% from the year-ago quarter, driven by an increase in the number of paying customers and improved revenue mix to higher valued-added services.

Digital Media and Entertainment: The segment operates businesses through media properties that include UCWeb, Youku Tudou, OTT TV service, Alibaba Music and Alibaba Sports. Revenues were RMB6 billion (US$903 million), reflecting an increase of 46% on a year-over-year basis. The segment’s top-line growth was driven by an increase in revenues from mobile value-added services provided by UCWeb, such as news feeds and mobile search, along with subscription and advertising revenues from Youku Tudou.

Innovation Initiatives and Others: This segment includes businesses such as the YunOS operating system, AutoNavi, DingTalk enterprise messaging and others. Revenues in the quarter were RMB1.1 billion (US$160 million), up 64% year over year, driven by an increase in revenues from Tmall Genie.

Key Metrics

Mobile Monthly Active Users (MAUs) — Mobile MAUs were 634 million, improving 20% from the prior-year quarter and 3% sequentially. This improvement was caused by an increase in the adoption of mobile devices by consumers, as the primary method of accessing Alibaba’s platforms. 

Annual Active Buyers — China retail marketplaces had 576 million annual active buyers in the 12-month period ended Jun 30, 2018, reflecting 24% year-over-year growth and 5% sequential improvement.

Operating Results

Pro-forma gross margin was 46%, down 1,920 basis points year over year.

Alibaba’s operating expenses (product development + sales and marketing + general and administrative) of RMB27.1 billion increased 104.7% from a year ago.

Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased to 36% from 50% in the year-ago quarter, primarily due to higher investments in New Retail and other expansion activities.

Balance Sheet

Alibaba exited fiscal first quarter with cash and cash equivalents, and short-term investments of approximately RMB177.3 billion (US$26.8 billion) compared with RMB205.4 billion (US$32.7 billion) in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018.

Cash Flow/Share Repurchase

Net cash flow from operations was RMB36.1 billion (US$5.5 billion) while free cash flow was RMB26.4 billion (US$4 billion) in the fiscal first quarter.

Alibaba Group Holding Limited Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

Alibaba Group Holding Limited Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Alibaba Group Holding Limited Quote

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Currently, Alibaba Group has a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). Some better-ranked stocks in the technology sector are Cirrus Logic, Inc. (CRUS - Free Report) , Infineon Technologies AG (IFNNY - Free Report) and Rambus Inc. (RMBS - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Long-term earnings growth for Cirrus Logic, Infineon Technologies and Rambus is currently projected to be 11.1%, 7.5% and 10%, respectively.

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