The site is the largest e-commerce operator in China: Alibaba.com. Interestingly enough, the firm -- which is traded in Hong Kong -- is 40% owned by Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO).Well, last night, Alibaba.com reported its quarterly results. While earnings fell 34.2% to $38.2 million, the fact remains that top-line growth was robust. That is, revenues spiked 23.6%.
Interestingly enough, the global slowdown has been a benefit as small business owners look for export opportunities, which is the sweet-spot of Alibaba.com. At the same time, China's economy continues to grow at a strong pace (helped along with the government's aggressive stimulus plan). In fact, the site has picked up about one million users for each of the last three months. What's more, Alibaba.com has added 50,000 new paying customers in the quarter. In all, the total is 531,471.
As a result, Alibaba.com continues to invest in its infrastructure and marketing. Keep in mind the site plans to spend about $30 million in advertising in the US. Simply put, the pricing is fairly affordable.
Finally, Alibaba.com plans to rev up its acquisitions over the next few months. Yes, the valuations should be ripe.
Although, as is the case with many other companies in China, the shares of Alibaba.com have been frothy. They have tripled this year.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The IPO Primer and The Complete M&A Handbook
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