Alibaba conference call: Qianwen APP is expected to create the future AI lifestyle entrance

On the 25th, Alibaba Group CEO Eddie Wu stated in a conference call that Alibaba is making efforts in both AI to B and AI to C directions. On one hand, the intelligence level and tool utilization capability of the Qwen3-Max model have reached a global leading position; on the other hand, the synergy between AI and Alibaba's e-commerce, maps, local life, and other business ecosystems presents greater imagination. Based on the advantages of AI models and Alibaba's ecosystem, the Qianwen APP is expected to be the first to create the future AI lifestyle entry point. Therefore, while accelerating growth in AI to B, a strategic decision has been made to fully enter AI to C.

Eddie Wu:

Welcome to Alibaba Group's quarterly earnings conference call. In the past quarter, Alibaba achieved steady and healthy growth. Our total revenue grew by 15% year-on-year (excluding Freshippo and Intime). Our continued investment in core businesses is yielding results, with revenue from Chinese e-commerce customer management growing by 10% and cloud intelligence revenue growing by 34%. I will introduce the latest progress in our two strategic core businesses of "AI + Cloud" and consumption.

The sustained strong demand for AI and the increase in public cloud usage drove Alibaba Cloud's 34% revenue growth this quarter, while external customer revenue growth accelerated to 29%. Revenue from AI-related products has achieved triple-digit year-on-year growth for the ninth consecutive quarter.

In the cloud computing market, two major trends are becoming increasingly evident. First, as AI applications scale, more developers and enterprise customers are choosing vendors with a full-stack AI technology portfolio. Second, customers are deepening and broadening their use of AI, significantly increasing demand for computing, storage, and other traditional cloud services. These forces together accelerate revenue growth driven by external customer demand.

This quarter, we continued to strengthen our full-stack AI capabilities, covering high-performance AI infrastructure, foundational models, and AI development frameworks. Our flagship model Qwen2.5-Max ranks among the top globally in specialized evaluation benchmarks for real-world coding tasks and agent tool usage capabilities. Our full-stack AI capabilities have now become a decisive competitive advantage.

Alibaba Cloud has gained market share in several sub-segments. In the hybrid cloud market, Alibaba Cloud has become a key player, with year-on-year growth exceeding 20%, surpassing industry growth rates and steadily expanding market share. Our financial cloud business is also growing faster than the market, with market share continuously increasing. In China's AI cloud market, we are also a clear leader, with market share greater than the combined total of the second to fourth largest suppliers. Recently, companies such as the NBA, Marriott China, UnionPay, and Bosch have begun collaborating with Alibaba Cloud on AI initiatives.

Last week, we officially launched the Qwen App, which aims to become a state-of-the-art personal AI assistant powered by our latest model. In the first week of public testing, the Qwen App's new downloads exceeded 10 million. The launch of the Qwen App marks Alibaba's commitment to both enterprise AI and consumer AI. In terms of enterprise AI, our goal is to become the world's leading full-stack AI provider serving enterprises across various industriesFor consumers, we aim to build native AI-first applications by leveraging our top-notch models and Alibaba's extensive ecosystem. On one hand, the intelligence and world-class tool usage capabilities of Qwen2.5-Max, combined with Alibaba's rich consumption and lifestyle scenarios, have contributed to the impressive user retention rate of the Qwen App beta version. We believe now is the right time to expand our consumer AI business.

On the other hand, the synergy between AI and the broader Alibaba ecosystem is a powerful multiplier. Alibaba is the only company in China that possesses both leading large models and a wide range of lifestyle services and e-commerce scenarios. Qwen will gradually integrate e-commerce, map navigation, local services, etc., becoming the AI entry point for daily life.

As AI innovation and ecosystem collaboration mutually promote each other, we are confident in our ability to provide significant consumer value. We continue to deepen collaboration across various businesses, and the advantages of our large integrated platform are becoming increasingly evident. In this quarter, revenue from customer management in China's e-commerce sector grew by 10%. Our instant retail business has achieved significant improvements in unit economics, with higher order fulfillment efficiency, increased user retention, and rising average order value, continuously expanding in scale. The growth of the instant retail business has driven rapid growth in monthly active consumers on the Taobao App and supported the expansion of customer management revenue. Tmall brands are also accelerating the adoption of instant retail. As of October 31, approximately 3,500 Tmall brands have connected their offline stores to our instant retail business. In the future, we will further enhance the synergy between instant retail and the broader Alibaba ecosystem, continuously improving unit economics to meet the rapidly growing consumer demand for instant access to diverse products and services.

On October 1, the daily active users of Amap reached a historical high of 360 million. In September, we launched the Amap Street Scanning feature, significantly enhancing user engagement. In October, the average daily active users of Amap Street Scanning exceeded 70 million, and the average daily user comment volume was more than three times that of the same period last year, demonstrating strong future growth potential. Amap Street Scanning establishes a trust-based rating system for local offline services using user consented indicators such as user credit ratings. We believe that enhancing consumer trust is crucial for strengthening consumer confidence, allowing merchants to focus on operations while providing consumers with peace of mind, supporting the healthy and sustainable growth of the local service industry.

Looking ahead, we will continue to decisively invest in our two core strategic pillars: "AI + Cloud" and consumption. We will advance both enterprise AI and consumer AI simultaneously, unlocking deeper synergies across Alibaba's various businesses and using these engines to drive Alibaba's long-term growth, taking the company to new heights. Thank you. Now I will hand the conference call over to Xu Hong.

Xu Hong:

We continue to focus on the "AI + Cloud" and consumption strategies while maintaining discipline. We see that these strategies have brought strong momentum, with gains in technology, market share, consumer and user engagementNow let's look at the financial performance. On a consolidated basis, total revenue was RMB 247.8 billion. Excluding the revenue from Hema and Intime, revenue would grow by 15% year-on-year. Total adjusted EBITDA decreased by 7%, mainly due to our strategic investments in the instant retail business to expand the user base and transaction volume, which were offset by double-digit revenue growth from the China e-commerce group and the cloud intelligence group, as well as improvements in operational efficiency across various businesses, including AIDC and Cainiao. Our GAAP net profit was RMB 20.6 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 56%, primarily attributed to the reduction in operating profit. Operating cash flow was RMB 10.1 billion, a decrease of RMB 21.3 billion compared to the same period last year. The year-on-year decline was mainly due to increased strategic investments in the instant retail business. Free cash flow was an outflow of RMB 21.8 billion, reflecting our significant investments in the instant retail business and "AI + Cloud" infrastructure. Of course, we are reinvesting free cash flow to build a successful instant retail business and become a leader in the AI field. Our strong balance sheet, along with USD 41 billion in net cash, provides confidence for this reinvestment strategy.

Alibaba's China e-commerce group revenue was RMB 132.6 billion, an increase of 16%. Customer management revenue grew by 10%, mainly benefiting from improvements in Taotian Group's GMV, which benefited from increased penetration of Chen Zhanda (note: may refer to a specific business or model, needs confirmation based on actual name) and an increase in software service fees. Our instant retail business revenue grew by 60%. In this quarter, we executed plans to scale the instant retail business, improve user experience, and narrow unit economic losses. The adjusted EBITDA for Alibaba's China e-commerce group was RMB 10.5 billion. Excluding the losses from the instant retail business, the adjusted EBITDA for Alibaba's China e-commerce group would achieve mid-single-digit year-on-year growth this quarter. Looking ahead, due to intense competition and significant investments in user experience, this adjusted EBITDA may fluctuate quarterly.

AIDC revenue grew by 10%. In particular, AliExpress developed its AliExpress Direct model utilizing local inventory from over 30 countries. AliExpress also enhanced its product supply range by launching the Brand Plus program, providing listing solutions for Chinese brands going overseas. The combination of logistics optimization and improved investment efficiency enabled AIDC to achieve RMB 162 million in adjusted EBITDA this quarter. Looking ahead, although we continue to enhance operational efficiency, the adjusted EBITDA for AIDC may fluctuate quarterly due to tactical investments in specific markets.

Our cloud business accelerated growth again this quarter, with revenue from the cloud business segment and external customer revenue growth rates accelerating to 34% and 29%, respectively. This momentum was mainly driven by growth in public cloud revenue, including increased adoption of AI-related products. Revenue from AI-related products continued to grow at a triple-digit rate. This quarter, revenue from AI-related products accounted for over 20% of external customer revenue, and its contribution continues to increaseWe see that AI products are accelerating adoption among a broader range of enterprise customers, with increasing focus on value-added applications including code assistance. The adjusted EBITDA margin remains relatively stable at 9%. We will continue to invest in customer growth and technological innovation to enhance the adoption of AI infrastructure and cloud computing, strengthening our market leadership.

Revenue from other segments decreased by 25%, primarily due to the divestiture of GaoXin Retail and Intime businesses. The adjusted EBITDA for all other segments recorded a loss of 3.4 billion RMB, mainly due to increased investments in technology businesses, partially offset by improvements in the operational results of other businesses. Cainiao has achieved profitability for three consecutive quarters. All other segments include a range of innovative programs, including several strategic AI-driven technological infrastructures and businesses, including our foundational models and AI applications. We will continue to invest in these programs to seek future growth, and we are excited about this.

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