China's spending slump weighs as e-commerce giant Alibaba misses estimates

Alibaba missed first-quarter revenue expectations due to cautious Chinese consumer spending and economic weakness.

: Alibaba's first-quarter revenue fell short of estimates as domestic e-commerce sales suffered from cautious Chinese consumer spending amid economic struggles. The company's revenue for the quarter was 243.24 billion yuan, missing the 249.05 billion yuan forecast. Despite increased purchase frequency, Alibaba faces competition and has resorted to heavy discounts, impacting margins.

Alibaba's first-quarter revenue came in at 243.24 billion yuan, falling short of analysts' average estimate of 249.05 billion yuan. The company has been struggling with cautious consumer spending due to China's faltering economy, which includes a weak property market and high job insecurity levels that have sapped consumer confidence.

Alibaba faces stiff competition from rivals like JD.com, PDD Holdings' Pinduoduo, and ByteDance-owned Douyin. Despite an increase in the number of purchasers and their purchase frequency, revenue at Alibaba's domestic e-commerce arm fell by 1 percent as the company resorted to heavy discounting to attract shoppers.

Executives from Alibaba remain hopeful that new monetization tools will boost revenue growth in the latter half of the fiscal year. Alibaba's international e-commerce unit performed better, growing by 32 percent to 29.3 billion yuan, while its cloud segment saw a 6 percent revenue increase, reaching 26.55 billion yuan due to rising demand for AI-related products.

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