Alibaba just reported its quarterly results .
Restructuring Reaping Fruits
One important point is that despite revenue only rising by 14%, the company's net profit has grown by 46%.
In addition, Alibaba's headcount has reduced 235,216 to 228,675 employes. This is sign that Alibaba's restructuring is bearing fruit with improving margins. As quoted by Alibaba: "Without the effect of share-based compensation expense, cost of revenue as a percentage of revenue would have decreased from 62% in the quarter ended June 30, 2022 to 61% in the quarter ended June 30, 2023.". This shows the group has been able to bring down cost and improve margins which is very good as China is not growing strongly as it is to be.
Improvements in Cainiao and Lazada
"Lazada recorded double-digit order growth year-over-year during the quarter. As a result of improving monetization and operating efficiency, Lazada’s unit economics continued to improve compared to the same period last year" & Cainiao revenue increased by 34% compared to RMB17,292 million in the same quarter of 2022, primarily contributed by the increase in revenue from international fulfillment solution services and domestic consumer logistics services.
Cainiao is now a profitable segment and I would expect strong valuations for its IPO. It's high revenue growth shows Cainiao is still in the late start up stage, justifying a high valuation. This is benefical to shareholders.
Lazada too is commendable with its high growth. I will not be surprised that Lazada will turn profitable soon similar to what Sea Group has done to Shopee.
Evaluation
Overall this is a very strong financial result put forth by Alibaba. With Cainiao being profitable and still having double digits revenue growth due to its worldwide market, I expect IPO valuations for Cainiao to be very strong.
This is a positive to shareholders and I still expect US$160 to be seen this year.
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