Alibaba Group Holding Ltd – ADR (NYSE:BABA) stock rose 1.72% (As on May 15, 11:22:29 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company edged past revenue expectations for its latest quarter but fell short on profit. The company reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of 3.3 billion renminbi ($453 million), or 1.30 renminbi per American depositary share, compared with 23.5 million renminbi, or 9.00 renminbi per ADS, in the year-earlier period. The company logged a 4% rise in sales from Taobao and Tmall Group, reaching 93.2 billion renminbi. Cloud Intelligence revenue increased 3% from the year before to 25.6 billion renminbi. Income from operations was RMB14,765 million (US$2,045 million), a decrease of 3% year-over-year. Adjusted EBITA, a non-GAAP measurement, decreased 5% year-over-year to RMB23,969 million (US$3,320 million), primarily attributable to increased investments in our e-commerce businesses and retention incentives granted to Cainiao employees. The Net cash provided by operating activities was RMB23,340 million (US$3,233 million), a decrease of 26% compared to RMB31,401 million in the same quarter of 2023. Free cash flow, a non-GAAP measurement of liquidity, was RMB15,361 million (US$2,127 million), a decrease of 52% compared to RMB32,267 million in the same quarter of 2023. The year-over-year decrease in free cash flow mainly reflected the increase in capital expenditure during the quarter, the majority of which reflected the investments in Alibaba Cloud infrastructure, as well as a special dividend of RMB10,519 million from Ant Group in the same quarter of 2023.

BABA in the fourth quarter of FY 24 has reported the adjusted earnings of 10.14 renminbi per ADS, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings of 10.27 renminbi per ADS. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 7 percent to 221.9 billion renminbi in the fourth quarter of FY 24, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of 220.3 billion renminbi, according to the FactSet consensus.

Additionally, Alibaba’s board of directors has approved a dividend consisting of two parts. This includes an annual cash dividend of $1.00 per ADS and a “one-time extraordinary cash dividend of 66 cents per ADS. The total dividend amount will be roughly $4 billion. During the quarter ended March 31, 2024, BABA repurchased a total of 524 million ordinary shares (equivalent of 65 million ADSs) for a total of US$4.8 billion. As of March 31, 2024, the company had 19,469 million ordinary shares (equivalent of 2,434 million ADSs) outstanding