Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba misses first-quarter revenue estimates

Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) missed market expectations for first-quarter revenue on Thursday, as the company’s domestic e-commerce sales came under pressure from cautious spending by Chinese consumers in a faltering economy.

U.S.-listed shares of the company fell about 4% in premarket trading.

A stagnant recovery from the COVID-19 crisis in China, coupled with a persistently weak real estate market and high levels of job insecurity, have undermined consumer confidence and purchasing power in the world’s second-largest economy, putting global companies at risk across the board affected.

Alibaba also faces stiff competition from rivals such as JD.com and discount-oriented retail platforms such as PDD Holdings’ Pinduoduo and ByteDance-owned Douyin.

Alibaba reported revenue of 243.24 billion yuan ($33.98 billion) for the quarter ended June 30, compared with the average analyst estimate of 249.05 billion yuan, according to LSEG data.

Net income attributable to common shareholders was 24.27 billion yuan in the quarter, compared with 34.33 billion yuan a year earlier.

($1 = 7.1584 Chinese Yuan Renminbi)

(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru and Casey Hall in Shanghai; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)