Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) said on Thursday its quarterly revenue climbed 61%, beating analysts' estimates, helped by growth in its core e-commerce business.
The firm, headed by billionaire entrepreneur Jack Ma, posted 55.12 billion yuan ($8.34 billion U.S.) in revenue for the July-September quarter, above a 52.2 billion yuan forecast by analysts.
Net income more than doubled from a year ago to 17.41 billion yuan, growing at a faster clip than the previous two quarters.
The second quarter is often slower for Alibaba as it prepares for the annual blockbuster Singles' Day event on Nov. 11, a sales bonanza that shifts more goods than the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales days in the United States combined.
Alibaba said revenue from its core e-commerce business hit 46.46 billion yuan, representing a 63% rise from the same quarter a year earlier.
Said CEO Daniel Zhang, "We had an outstanding quarter. Our consumer insights and technology innovation were the key drivers behind our customer value proposition across the Alibaba economy.
"We are seeing the early results from our efforts to integrate online and offline with our New Retail strategy, and consumers have benefited from access to high quality products, improved customer experience and the tremendous convenience of shopping anytime, anywhere."
Shares gained 75 cents to $186.83 mid-morning Thursday.
