10:24 AM EDT, 05/14/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Alibaba Group ( BABA ) reported weaker-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday, despite revenue gains in the company's e-commerce, cloud and logistics business segments.

The Chinese e-commerce giant posted adjusted earnings of 10.14 renminbi ($1.40) per American depositary share, down from 10.71 renminbi a year earlier. The consensus among analysts on Capital IQ was for 10.24 renminbi. The company's New York Stock Exchange-listed shares fell 7.6% in Tuesday's trading session.

"The decline in our non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS was moderate at 5%, given our ongoing share repurchase program," Chief Financial Officer Toby Xu said during an earnings call, according to a Capital IQ transcript. The group, which approved a $25 billion increase to its stock buyback program in February, repurchased a total of $4.8 billion in shares for the three months through March.

Revenue rose 7% to 221.87 billion renminbi, beating the Street's view for 219.8 billion renminbi. Sales in the Taobao and Tmall group segment grew 4% to 93.22 billion renminbi. Within this division, China commerce retail increased 3% while commerce wholesale jumped 20%. The international digital commerce business surged 45% to 27.45 billion renminbi.

"Our China and international commerce businesses realized double-digit year-over-year (gross merchandise value) growth through our focus on the customer experience," Chief Executive Eddie Wu said in a statement. "We are also excited by the accelerated growth of customers and cloud computing revenues related to our (artificial intelligence) products."

Revenue in the cloud business rose 3% to 25.6 billion renminbi, buoyed by double-digit growth in the company's core public cloud offerings, including AI products, Xu told analysts. Local services climbed 19% while Cainiao Smart Logistics Network advanced 30%. Digital media and entertainment revenue dipped 1%.

Alibaba's ( BABA ) board approved a two-part dividend of $4 billion in aggregate for fiscal 2024. The dividend comprises of an annual dividend of $0.125 per ordinary share or $1 per ADS, as well as a one-time dividend of $0.0825 per ordinary share or $0.66 per ADS. The dividend is payable on or around July 3 for holders of ordinary shares and on or around July 12 for holders of ADS.

Price: 79.63, Change: -4.97, Percent Change: -5.88