Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing subsidiary of Alibaba, unveiled its ChatGPT-style product Tongyi Qianwen during the 2023 Alibaba Cloud Summit on Tuesday morning.
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Alibaba announced plans to spin off its cloud division as a separate, publicly-traded company, while the e-commerce titan’s quarterly revenues missed expectations.
“We are taking concrete steps towards unlocking value from our businesses and are pleased to announce that our board has approved a full spin-off of the Cloud Intelligence Group via a stock dividend distribution to shareholders, with intention for it to become an independent publicly listed company,” company CEO Daniel Zhang said.
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Alibaba shares were down 1% in U.S. premarket trading as of 12:38 p.m. London time.
Here’s how Alibaba did in the quarter, which ended Mar. 31, 2022, compared with Refinitiv consensus estimates:
- Revenue: 208.2 billion Chinese yuan ($29.6 billion) vs. 210.2 billion yuan expected, up 2% year on year;
- Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share: 1.34 yuan vs. 2.08 yuan expected, up 35% year-on-year
The report is Alibaba’s first since splitting into six units and is also the first whose numbers reflect China’s reopening. The country in December abruptly ended its strict Covid controls, such as lockdowns and travel restrictions.
In its Thursday report, Alibaba said it plans to spin off its cloud division as a newly listed company, subject to restructuring certain assets, liabilities and contracts, and regulatory approvals.
Alibaba is a major player in cloud computing in its home country and increasingly seeks to compete with established U.S. giants, such as Amazon and Microsoft.
The company also announced plans to raise money from outside investors for its international digital commerce group, which includes the Lazada and AliExpress online shopping platforms.
Alibaba also said it intends to launch an initial public offering for its Cainiao Smart Logistics unit, in…
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