Investing.com - Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) shares rallied in pre-market trade on Thursday, after the Chinese e-commerce giant reported better than expected fiscal second quarter earnings, driven by growth in online sales.
Alibaba posted adjusted earnings of $1.29 per share and revenue of $8.29 billion compared to expectations of EPS of $1.03 and $7.85 billion of revenue.
Revenue from core commerce increased 63% year-over-year, while revenue from cloud computing increased 99% year-over-year.
Annual active consumers on its retail marketplaces reached 488 million, an increase of 22 million from the 12-month period ended June 30, 2017.
Mobile monthly active users rose to 549 million, an increase of 20 million over June 2017.
"We had an outstanding quarter. Our consumer insights and technology innovation were the key drivers behind our customer value proposition across the Alibaba economy," said Daniel Zhang, Chief Executive Officer of Alibaba Group
Shares of Alibaba traded at $194.73, up 4.2% from Wednesday's closing price of $186.08.