Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. posted its fastest pace of revenue growth in more than a year, as the Chinese internet pioneer co-founded by Jack Ma takes another step toward a recovery after years of turbulence.
The Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. headquarters in Hangzhou – Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg – Reuters
The company reported better-than-anticipated revenue gains in its two most important divisions: e-commerce and cloud services, which houses its AI endeavors. That hints at a bounce-back in Chinese consumption from post-Covid troughs, and initial success at beating back rivals from ByteDance Ltd. to PDD Holdings Inc. that in recent years eroded its market share. The company’s stock rose as much as 11% after markets opened in New York on Thursday.
Investors may have also been bullish because of Alibaba’s growing determination to compete in artificial intelligence. Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu said Alibaba will spend more on AI infrastructure over the next three years as it did in the past decade. He went as far as to say that Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI, is the company’s “primary objective.”
“This is the kind of opportunity for industry transformation that really only comes about once every several decades,” he told analysts on a conference call. “So when it comes to Alibaba’s AI strategy, our first and foremost goal is to pursue AGI.”
The financial results show Alibaba is already righting a business knocked off-kilter by a government clampdown that began in 2020. It regained its footing after Beijing signaled a pullback in scrutiny in 2023. Joe Tsai and Wu — two of co-founder Jack Ma’s most trusted lieutenants — took the helm that year and refocused investment on AI and e-commerce. On Thursday, Alibaba reported a faster-than-projected 8% rise in sales to 280.2 billion yuan ($38.6 billion) in the December quarter, after cloud services revenue expanded its most on a quarterly basis in about two years.
That division, which houses the company’s AI-related projects and hosts computing power for external clients, grew revenue 13% to $4.3 billion. International commerce sales — driven by overseas marketplaces such as AliExpress and Trendyol — surged 32%.
Alibaba has gained some $100 billion of market value in 2025, though it’s still far from its pre-crackdown peak. Ma himself joined a select group of the biggest names in Chinese technology and business at a televised summit convened this week by Xi Jinping — signifying Alibaba’s return to favor after years in the cold. The gathering featured entrepreneurs across a broad swath of industry, notably from the sphere of artificial intelligence.
“Now that Alibaba has defended its main e-commerce business, and its side AI business is also booming, we could see Alibaba’s results flourish in upcoming quarters,” said Li Chengdong, head of Beijing-based Internet think-tank Haitun. “Their government relationship wasn’t in a good shape in the past few years and that must have led to a huge loss of clients. Now the AI business is finally reviving the group.”
Ma was the highest-profile casualty of Xi’s crackdown on the internet and private sector in 2020, when authorities scuttled the blockbuster initial public offering of Alibaba-affiliate Ant Group Co.
That episode kicked off a yearslong campaign to tighten state control over the economy, rein in the nation’s billionaire class and shift resources toward Xi’s priorities including national security and technological self-sufficiency. Once one of China’s most outspoken entrepreneurs, Ma largely disappeared from public view.
But authorities have taken a less combative approach as China’s economy slowed and companies aligned themselves with Xi’s push for leadership in areas like AI. Alibaba, which operates one of the world’s biggest cloud services platforms, wowed investors this year by making major headway in that arena during the post-ChatGPT era.
“The results show very good progress — a very clear ‘back to basics’ strategy is paying off,” said Jeffrey Towson, partner at TechMoat Consulting.
Since the advent of OpenAI’s chatbot, Alibaba has invested in a clutch of China’s most promising startups, including Moonshot and Zhipu. It prioritized the expansion of the cloud business that underpins AI development, slashing prices to win back the customers that fled during the turbulent years.
It also decided to spend big on AI, joining a race led by Baidu Inc. at the time. DeepSeek’s sudden rise to global prominence last month – a shock to both Silicon Valley and Wall Street — boosted Chinese tech stocks including Alibaba in recent weeks. Since then, Alibaba has unveiled a Qwen model that performed well in official benchmark tests and signaled the company’s growing relevance in the field. Apple Inc. is incorporating Alibaba’s AI technology into Chinese iPhones, a vote of confidence in its prowess.
On Thursday, Wu talked up Alibaba’s aspirations to ride the AI wave and develop AGI — the industry holy grail touted by prominent advocates from OpenAI’s Sam Altman to Masayoshi Son.
But like many of his peers, the Alibaba CEO stopped short of outlining a profitable use case for AI. It should however enhance services throughout the business, while Alibaba itself as an infrastructure provider should benefit, he said.
“We’re still in very early days when we’re talking about the advancement of artificial intelligence technology,” Wu said. “The future business business models and the future ways in which these models will be monetized are not necessarily clear to anybody today.”
On Friday, guests at a millinery in central London tried on hats of various shapes and sizes. Some leant in to smell a chocolate design, while others admired one infused with the scent of autumn.
A tempered chocolate hat on display as milliner Stephen Jones showcases his Autumn/Winter 2025-2026 collection at his Covent Garden shop during London Fashion Week, 21 February 2025. – Photo credit: AFP
Legendary British milliner Stephen Jones brought sensory experiences to his Autumn/Winter 2025 presentation at London Fashion Week, showcasing hats crafted from satin, tartan, crêpe, and even glass. “I was thinking about how people connected through hats, and so it’s about sight, and taste, and touch,” Jones, who also designs hats for Dior, told AFP at his studio in Covent Garden.
Feathers floated atop a delicate fascinator, icy beads dangled down from another headband, and Jones described a black satin flat cap with white piping as “assured” and “fun.”
“What is fashion about? Is fashion a uniform? Is fashion self-expression? Can fashion be fun? So that’s why this collection came about,” Jones said.
In the background, one guest tried on a hat with gauzy petals piled high, exclaiming, “It’s so strange; when I take the hat off, I feel naked.” The centre of attraction was a Willy Wonka-esque top hat made of chocolate with a bite-size hole in its crown, which Jones crafted in collaboration with Paris-based pâtisserie Jana Lai.
Jones has already received an order for the hat from a “lady who wants to wear it for her birthday party” and said the confectionary head covering can be worn by “anyone.”
“Not somewhere too hot, though”, he mused.
Celebrating life
From plush berets for Princess Diana to towering headdresses strutted down Dior runways, Jones’s hats have served as the crowning glory of celebrities and designers for over four decades.
His work is currently on display in a retrospective at Paris’s Palais Galliera called “Stephen Jones, Chapeaux d’Artiste”, which brings together some 170 hats spanning his career.
Jones, 67, was born “near Liverpool, in the middle of nowhere”.
“So, for me, Paris was always such an exciting place,” said Jones, who divides his time between London and Paris.
“Paris has always influenced my work,” he added, a customary brown beret balancing on his head.
Jones crafted his first hat when he was a student at London’s Central Saint Martins out of a cereal box and scraps from his sister’s blouse. That sense of whimsy and innovation never really went away.
“Everything else can be super serious, but fashion and hats need to be about celebrating life,” he said. “Especially at the moment.” For the millinery guru, participating in fashion week during a time of global political uncertainty was “strange.” “But that’s what fashion does. At least you can control how you get dressed in the morning.”
“Hats are so popular because they’re like a talisman of something. It’s a talisman of hope,” said Jones. “People wear jackets and tailoring and shoes… But to show your individuality, maybe a hat is a very good way of doing that.”
Despite dressing a roster of fashion royalty, Jones said he still has not made a hat for Britain’s Queen Camilla. “The Queen hasn’t worn my hats yet. Maybe one day I’ll make a hat (for her),” said Jones.
After 45 years of presenting collections, how does he keep pulling ideas out of his hat?
“I guess that’s my character. I live my life and put it into a hat.”
There’s no such thing as consistency when it comes to consumer confidence, at the moment at least, as trying to read consumer emotions in February is a little tough.
Photo: Pexels
GfK has its long-running Consumer Confidence Index increasing two points to -20 this month and its other measures to gauge sentiment were also all up on January.
This is in stark contrast to yesterday’s (20 February) data from the British Retail Consortium which showed confidence down three points February from January, the fifth consecutive month in which expectations have worsened.
The GfK index measuring changes in personal finances during the last year is up three points at -7; seven points better than February 2024 and the forecast for personal finances over the next 12 months is up four points at +2, which is two points better than this time last year. But according to the BRC it had its consumer personal financial situation falling 7 points from January.
GfK’s measure for the general economic situation of the country during the last 12 months is also up two points to -44, one point lower than in February 2024 and expectations for the general economic situation over the next 12 months have improved three points to -31, still seven points worse than February 2024.
The Major Purchase Index is also up three points to -17, eight points better than this month last year, while The Savings Index stayed at +30 in February, one point higher than this time last year.
Neil Bellamy, Consumer Insights Director, NIQ GfK, said it its reading: “The biggest improvement is in how consumers see their personal finances for the coming year with an increase of four points that takes this measure out of negative territory to +2.
“The Bank of England interest rate cut on 6 February will have brightened the mood for some people, but the majority are still struggling with a cost-of-living crisis that is far from over. Prices are still rising above the Bank of England’s target; gas and electricity bills remain a challenge for many households. So it’s no surprise that consumer views on the general economic situation are still lower than 12 months ago, suggesting that people don’t expect the economy to show any dramatic signs of improvement soon. Politicians looking for bright spots on the horizon will be disappointed.”
Interestingly, with the survey coming on the day that the UK’s statistics body said January retail sales volumes rose, home delivery expert Parcelhero said that “shoppers may say they are worried about the state of the economy, but that didn’t stop them splashing out at the supermarket”.
Its head of Consumer Research, David Jinks, said consumers might not actually be feeling as bad as they think they are.
“When it came to actually spending money, it seems that they actually splashed the cash more in January than at any time in the last few months,” he said.
It will be interesting to see how both the retail sales picture and the consumer confidence picture develop in the months ahead.
The Perfume Shop and Deliveroo are extending their retail partnership to cover further UK locations, following a successful launch period last year.
The widening of its association, launched last year as Eau De-Liveroo x The Perfume Shop, comes as research reveals 47% of Britons have forgotten to wear or pack their favourite perfume when heading out, “leaving them feeling annoyed (24%), or unprepared (18%)”.
During peak periods, the retailer said the partnership managed to directly generate in-store sales in 21 locations covering London, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow and Edinburgh. “With over 1,000 perfumes available for quick delivery, the partnership has proven particularly popular during key shopping seasons over Black Friday and throughout December”, it added.
Milton Keynes was the most recent to introduce the Deliveroo app service, and there are plans to continue rolling out additional locations over 2025.
Gill Smith, managing director at The Perfume Shop said: “The success of our partnership… is a testament to the growing demand for seamless, on-demand shopping experiences”
Suzy McClintock, VP for New Verticals at Deliveroo added: “This successful partnership has not only driven sales but is also helping reshape the way customers shop by offering fast, on-demand delivery of over 1,000 fragrances across the UK.
Deliveroo is also continuing to expand its partnership to other retailers including Hurr, Accessorize, Hemp and Boots.
Entertainment8 years ago