Alibaba’s Profit Surge Bolsters Case IPO to Surpass Facebook
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Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the Chinese e-commerce company heading for an initial public offering, posted revenue and profit that could give it a valuation beyond that of Facebook Inc. when it went public.
Alibaba’s revenue surged 60 percent to $1.73 billion in the second quarter, according to a presentation released yesterday by Yahoo! Inc., which owns a stake in Alibaba. Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders more than doubled to $707 million from $273 million a year earlier. Alibaba’s second-quarter profit is more than double Facebook’s on slightly less revenue.