Key Takeaways
- Alibaba Group Holding’s ADRs sank Tuesday after the Chinese tech giant posted an 86% plunge in fiscal fourth-quarter net income on the back of investment losses.
- Both quarterly net income and earnings per share were below forecasts.
- Revenue beat estimates as its core Taobao and Tmall online shopping businesses posted a 4% sales gain.
American depositary receipts (ADRs) of Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) sank as the Chinese e-commerce giant’s profit plunged on investment losses.
Alibaba said its fiscal fourth-quarter net income fell 86% over the year to 3.27 billion Chinese yuan ($453 million). Adjusted earnings for the quarter ended March were CNY10.14 ($1.40) per ADS. Both were below forecasts. A 7% increase in revenue at CNY221.9 billion ($30.73 billion) beat estimates.
The company blamed the profit decline primarily on “a net loss from our investments in publicly-traded companies during the quarter, compared to a net gain in the same quarter last year, due to the mark-to-market changes.”
Alibaba’s revenue got a boost from its core Taobao and Tmall Chinese online shopping business, which posted a 4% increase in sales to CNY93.22 billion ($12.91 billion).
In addition, the company announced that the board has approved a special two-part dividend made up of an annual regular cash dividend of $0.125 per ordinary share or $1.00 per ADS, and a one-time extraordinary dividend of $0.0825 per ordinary share or $0.66 per ADS.
Alibaba ADRs were down 7.3% to $78.42 as of 12:15 p.m. ET.