Alibaba Group: 4QFY26 First Take: largely in-line with managed expectations

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Alibaba Group: 4QFY26 First Take: largely in-line with managed expectations

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Alibaba Group

4QFY26 First Take: largely in-line with

managed expectations

Maintain Rating: BUY | PO: 172.00 USD | Price: 134.78 USD

Cloud +38% y/y; CMR +1% y/y (8% on like-for-like basis) 13 May 2026

Alibaba reported 4QFY26 revenue of RMB243.4bn, up 3% YoY (11% YoY excl. Sun Art Equity

and Intime), roughly in-line with expectations. Group adjusted EBITA declined 84% YoY

Joyce Ju >>

to RMB5.1bn on investments for AI and quick commerce (QC), in-line with mgmt. Research Analyst

guidance. Adjusted Np was RMB86mn, below the RMB15.1bn consensus. Implications: Merrill Lynch (Hong Kong) +852 3508 3371

Overall performance tracked the market’s conservative expectations. Cloud revenue joyce.ju@bofa.com

continued to accelerate to 38% YoY, slightly below the 40% expectation. Within this, Joanna Du >>

external cloud revenue accelerated from 35% in the prior quarter to 40%, with AI-related Research Analyst Merrill Lynch (Hong Kong)

revenue exceeding 30% of external cloud revenue (RMB9bn). CMR growth was 8% YoY joanna.du@bofa.com

on a like-for-like basis, but as previously guided, reported growth was only 1% YoY due Alex Liu >>

to accounting-related revenue recognition adjustments. On margins, increased ResearchMerrill LynchAnalyst(Hong Kong)

investments in Qwen and related initiatives drove RMB21bn losses in all others alex.liu3@bofa.com

segment, together with RMB18bn losses in Quick Commerce, weighing on group-level Miranda Zhuang, CFA >>

earnings. As a result, group consolidated adjusted EBITA was limited to RMB5bn, ResearchMerrill LynchAnalyst(Hong Kong)

reinforcing market concerns around NT pressure on profitability and cash flows. miranda.zhuang@bofa.com