Alibaba shares rose more than 4% in premarket trading after the company reported a 34% year-on-year increase in cloud computing revenue in its fiscal second quarter. Total revenue grew 5%, with investors focusing on the company’s accelerating cloud performance, which has become the core engine of Alibaba’s AI strategy.
CEO Eddie Wu said demand for AI services continues to outstrip supply, noting that Alibaba’s AI-related product revenue has posted triple-digit growth for nine consecutive quarters. The company has invested around 120 billion yuan in AI and cloud infrastructure over the past four quarters and indicated it may exceed its existing three-year capital-spending target as demand scales.
Alibaba’s China e-commerce and rapid-delivery divisions also gained momentum, with domestic retail revenue rising 16% and its quick-commerce business growing 60% year over year. The company identified quick commerce as a strategic pillar with plans to expand gross merchandise volume significantly over the next three years.
