Alibaba misses revenue estimates, boosts buyback by $25b

SHANGHAI, Feb 07 (Reuters): China's Alibaba Group Holding on Wednesday missed analysts' estimates for third-quarter revenue, hurt by softness in the retail market and sagging economic recovery in the world's second-largest.
The company's US-listed shares, which announced an increase of $25 billion to its share repurchase program through the end of March 2027, were up 3.5 per cent in premarket trading. Alibaba announced the split of its business into six units last March in a transition overseen by CEO Eddie Wu and Chairman Joe Tsai, both Alibaba co-founders.
Wu, Group CEO since September, has been consolidating his control over Alibaba's core businesses and has told staff the company's strategic focuses would be "user first" and "AI-driven."