Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. reported its fastest revenue growth in more than a year, marking another step forward in the recovery of the Chinese internet pioneer co-founded by Jack Ma after years of turmoil.
The company reported that the revenue growth of its two most important departments (e-commerce and cloud services, including its artificial intelligence business) was better than expected. This indicates that Chinese consumption has rebounded from the post-pandemic trough and has initially succeeded in beating competitors such as ByteDance and Pinduoduo that have eroded its market share in recent years.
Financial results show that Alibaba is reversing the business decline caused by the government crackdown that began in 2020. The vast internet empire founded by Jack Ma has once again attracted investors after a period of turbulence.
Alibaba’s share price rose by more than 8% in both the US and Hong Kong, increasing its market value by 24 billion US dollars. Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index shows that the rise in the New York stock market has once again boosted Jack Ma’s wealth by 947 million US dollars, reaching nearly 41 billion US dollars. This is the first time in three years that the entrepreneur has surpassed the 40 billion US dollar mark. 
Investors may also be optimistic about Alibaba because the company is increasingly determined to compete in the field of artificial intelligence. Alibaba’s CEO, Wu Jihan, stated that the company will invest more in artificial intelligence infrastructure over the next three years, just as it has done in the past decade. He even said that general artificial intelligence (AGI) is the company’s “primary goal”.
He told analysts on a conference call: “This kind of industry transformation opportunity actually comes only once in decades. Therefore, when it comes to Alibaba’s artificial intelligence strategy, our top priority is to pursue AGI.”
After Beijing indicated it would ease regulation in 2023, Alibaba is regaining its footing. Joe Tsai and Daniel Zhang, two of Jack Ma’s most trusted deputies, took the helm of Alibaba that year and refocused investment on artificial intelligence and e-commerce.
Alibaba reported on Thursday that its sales in the December quarter rose 8% to 280.2 billion yuan ($38.6 billion), beating expectations. Cloud service revenue saw its biggest quarterly increase in about two years.
This department is responsible for the company’s AI-related projects and provides computing power to external clients. Its revenue increased by 13% to reach 4.3 billion US dollars. Driven by overseas markets such as AliExpress and Trendyol, international commercial sales soared by 32%.
By 2025, Alibaba’s market value will reach approximately 100 billion US dollars, although the peak is still far off. The participants of this summit come from all walks of life, especially entrepreneurs in the field of artificial intelligence.
Alibaba operates one of the world’s largest cloud service platforms. This year, in the post-ChatGPT era, Alibaba has made significant progress in this field, astonishing investors.
Jeffrey Towson, a partner at TechMoat Consulting, said: “The results show very good progress – a very clear ‘back to basics’ strategy is paying off.”
