Before US stocks opened on Thursday, February 24th, Alibaba announced results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2022, which ended December 31, 2021.

According to the financial report, Alibaba's revenue in the third quarter (as of December 31 last year) was 242.58 billion yuan, an increase of 9.7% over the same period last year, less than the 244.91 billion yuan expected by the market.

Alibaba's adjusted profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in the third quarter was 51.36 billion yuan, down 25% from the same period last year, better than the market estimate of 50.73 billion yuan. Adjusted EBITDA profit margin in the second quarter was 21%, compared with 31% in the same period last year, and the market estimated 20.4%.

In the fiscal third quarter (that is, the fourth quarter) ended December 31, 2021, key financial indicators net profit fell short of market expectations. Revenue was 242.58 billion yuan, lower than expected; net profit was 20.429 billion yuan, down 75% from the same period last year, and the market estimated 31.018 billion yuan.

In this regard, Alibaba explained at the conference call: the decrease in net income mainly due to the impairment of goodwill of RMB 25.141 billion and the change in the fair price of the equity investment held, which are not included in the non-GAAP financial indicators.

In terms of active users, as of December 31, 2021, Alibaba's global annual active consumers reached about 1.28 billion, with a net growth of 43 million in a single quarter, of which 979 million consumers were from the Chinese market and 301 million were from overseas, with net increases of 26 million and 16 million in a single quarter, respectively.

At the same time, Alibaba continued to promote the share buyback program this quarter, buying back about 10.1 million American depositary shares for about $1.4 billion. In the nine months ended December 31, 2021, approximately 42.2 million American depositary shares were repurchased at a cumulative cost of approximately $7.7 billion.

Zhang Yong, chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group, said: "in this quarter, in the complex and changeable market environment, Alibaba continues to firmly implement the multi-engine growth strategy and achieve steady business development. Through a high focus on capacity building and value creation, we have demonstrated positive developments in key strategic businesses, laying the foundation for long-term growth in the future. "