The Alibaba office building in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China, on Aug. 28, 2024.
CFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty Images
Alibaba posted a better-than-expected bottom line in the June quarter fueled by accelerated sales at its cloud computing unit and a continued revival of its e-commerce business.
Still, the Chinese giant’s revenues came in under analyst forecasts.
Alibaba’s stock was up around 4% in premarket trade in the U.S. after initially dipping.
Here’s how Alibaba did in its fiscal first quarter ended June, compared with LSEG estimates:
Revenue: 247.65 billion Chinese yuan ($34.6 billion), versus 252.9 billion yuan expected.
Net income: 43.11 billion yuan, compared with 28.5 billion yuan expected.
Revenue rose 2% year-on-year, while the company’s net income was up 78%. Alibaba attributed the increase in profit to gains in some of its equity investments and the disposal of Turkish e-commerce firm Trendyol. This was offset by a decrease in income from operations.
However, excluding investment gains, Alibaba’s net income would have decreased 18% year-on-year as it continues to invest in the cut-throat instant commerce space in China.
Alibaba has a delicate balancing act between investing areas such as artificial intelligence and new e-commerce models, while showing that it can continue to grow in China’s competitive market. So far, investors have rewarded Alibaba with a 40% rally in its U.S.-listed stock this year.
That’s partly thanks a continued growth acceleration at its key cloud computing division as well as improvements at both its China and international e-commerce businesses.
Cloud accelerates
Cloud computing was one of the bright spots.
Alibaba said revenue at the division totaled 33.4 billion yuan, up 26% year-on-year. That was faster than the 18% growth rate seen in the previous quarter. Alibaba’s cloud unit is seen as key to the company monetizing artificial intelligence, much like Microsoft or Google.
“Driven by robust AI demand, Cloud Intelligence Group experienced accelerated revenue growth, and AI-related product revenue is now a significant portion of revenue from external customers,” Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu said in a statement.
Investors are focused on Alibaba’s investments in artificial intelligence, where it has become a major global player. The company has aggressively launched various AI models and is selling services through its cloud computing division.
While Alibaba has focused open source AI — meaning its models can be used for free and built on by developers — it also sells AI services through its cloud unit.
Alibaba said AI-related product revenue “maintained triple-digit year-over-year growth for the eighth consecutive quarter.”
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization (EBITA), a measure of profitability, jumped 26% year-on-year in the cloud unit.
New York-listed Alibaba shares have risen more than 40% this year as revenue growth at its core China e-commerce business has improved and its cloud computing division has accelerated.
Alibaba’s core e-commerce business, which accounts for more than 50% of revenue, had mixed results.
Overall, revenue rose 10% year-on-year to 19.6 billion yuan. Customer management revenue, which Alibaba makes off of selling marketing and other services to merchants on its platform, jumped 10%. CMR accounts for the bulk of e-commerce revenue.
However, adjusted earnings in the division fell 21% in the quarter on an annual basis. That’s because Alibaba has been investing heavily in so-called quick or instant commerce. This is a feature introduced on Taobao, one of Alibaba’s main Chinese e-commerce apps, this year that provides deliveries of certain products in China within an hour
Competition is intense in China, with rivals including food delivery giant Meituan and JD.com, all involved. And the rivalry is already taking its toll on some of these firms, with Meituan this week posting an 89% plunge in second-quarter adjusted net profit.
Alibaba’s own quick commerce division brought in revenue of more than 14.8 billion yuan, or $2 billion, rising 12% year-on-year.
Still, investors appear okay with Alibaba’s instant commerce investments, because its cloud computing business continues to grow, while its international online shopping unit — which includes AliExpress — saw a 19% jump in revenue in the quarter as losses narrowed.
Ticket reseller StubHub signage on display at the New York Stock Exchange for the company’s IPO on Sept. 17, 2025.
NYSE
StubHub shares plunged 20% in extended trading on Thursday after the company reported quarterly results for the first time since its initial public offering in September.
Here’s how the ticket vendor did in comparison with LSEG consensus:
Loss per share: $4.27
Revenue: $468.1 million vs. $452 million expected
During a conference call with investors, StubHub CEO and founder Eric Baker said the company wouldn’t provide guidance for the current quarter.
Baker said that the company takes “a long term approach,” adding that the timing of when tickets go on sale can vary, making it hard to predict consumer demand. StubHub plans to offer outlook for 2026 when it reports fourth-quarter results, he said.
“The demand for live events is phenomenal,” Baker said. “We don’t see anything with consumer demand that’s any different.”
Revenue increased 8% in its second quarter from $433.8 million a year earlier, the company said.
StubHub reported a net loss of $1.33 billion, or a loss of $4.27 per share, compared to a net loss of $45.9 million, or a loss of 15 cents per share, during the same period last year. StubHub said this reflects a one-time stock-based compensation charge of $1.4 billion stemming from its IPO.
Gross merchandise sales, which represent the total dollar value paid by ticket buyers, rose 11% year over year to $2.43 billion.
The company faced tough comparisons from a year earlier, when results were boosted by Taylor Swift’s massively popular Eras Tour. Excluding that impact, StubHub said GMS grew 24% year over year.
Founded in 2000, StubHub primarily generates revenue from connecting buyers with ticket resellers. It competes with Vivid Seats, which was taken public via a special purpose acquisition company in 2021; SeatGeek; and Ticketmaster parent Live Nation Entertainment.
“We are building a truly differentiated consumer product that improves the experience for fans while unlocking better economics for venues, teams, and artists through open distribution,” Baker said in a statement. “We’re early in that journey, but our progress so far gives us great confidence in our strategy and the long-term value we’re creating.”
StubHub raised $800 million in its long-awaited IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, which came after it delayed its debut twice. The most recent stall came in April after President Donald Trump‘s announcement of sweeping tariffs roiled markets. The company restarted the process to go public in August when it filed an updated prospectus.
On Thursday, the company’s stock closed at $18.82. Shares are now down roughly 20% from the IPO price of $23.50.
The Google corporate logo hangs outside the Google Germany offices on August 31, 2021 in Berlin, Germany.
Sean Gallup | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Google said on Thursday said it has disrupted the foreign cybercriminal group behind a massive SMS text phishing operation within 24 hours of filing its lawsuit.
“This shut down of Lighthouse’s operations is a win for everyone,” said Google general counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado. “We will continue to hold malicious scammers accountable and protect consumers.”
Google filed the suit early Wednesday, seeking to dismantle the organization that some cyber experts have dubbed the “Smishing Triad,” which used a phishing kit named “Lighthouse” to generate and deploy attacks using fake texts.
The company provided translated Telegram messages allegedly posted by the group’s ringleader.
“Our cloud server has been blocked due to malicious complaints. Please be patient and we will restore it as soon as possible!” one message read.
Another message stated that “The reopening date will be announced separately.”
Google did not provide specifics on how the operation was shut down.
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The crime group had harmed at least 1 million victims across over 120 countries, Google said in a release.
Victims would receive texts containing malicious links to fraudulent websites designed to steal sensitive financial information, including Social Security numbers and banking credentials.
The messages often appeared as fake delivery updates, unpaid fees notifications, fraud alerts, and other texts designed to appear urgent.
“They were preying on users’ trust in reputable brands such as E-ZPass, the U.S. Postal Service, and even us as Google,” DeLaine Prado previously told CNBC.
The company said that it found over 100 templates generated by Lighthouse using the company’s branding to trick victims into thinking the sites were legitimate.
Tesla is recalling around 10,500 units of its Powerwall 2, a backup battery for residential use, according to a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission disclosure out Thursday.
“The lithium-ion battery cells in certain Powerwall 2 systems can cause the unit to stop functioning during normal use, which can result in overheating and, in some cases, smoke or flame and can cause death or serious injury due to fire and burn hazards,” the CPSC recall notice said.
While Elon Musk‘s electric vehicle and clean energy company blamed the issue on a “third-party battery cell defect,” it did not name the supplier.
The recall notice said Tesla previously received 22 customer reports of the Powerwall 2 overheating, including five fires resulting in “minor property damage,” but no known injuries.
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Tesla’s Powerwall products are sold via its Energy division, along with giant, backup batteries that are built for utility-scale projects and use at large business facilities.
The Powerwalls work with Tesla’s solar photovoltaics, or solar rooftops, and can store electricity in a home for use at a later time, including during blackouts or during days or hours when electricity prices are higher.
In a separate notice on Tesla’s website, the company emphasized that the issue does not affect owners of newer model Powerwall systems, specifically Powerwall 3. The company website also said, “all affected units are being replaced at no cost to customers.”
Tesla’s biggest growth engine in the third quarter of 2025 came from its energy division, which sells Powerwalls. Tesla Energy saw revenue jump 44% to $3.42 billion in the third quarter, and as of the end of September, its energy segment represented about one-quarter of Tesla’s overall revenue.
Tesla shares fell by more than 7% on Thursday. Representatives for Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
