Shares in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba have risen four percent on the back of its latest profit result.
It says revenue rose 39 percent to US$3.7 billion in the three months to March 31.
The result was driven by strong consumer purchases in China.
Alibaba now generates more transactions than Amazon or eBay.
Monthly mobile active users reached 410 million, up 42 percent from a year ago.
The company is also expanding into cloud services, with US$165 million in revenue in the March quarter from the cloud. That is nearly three times the amount Alibaba generated from the cloud a year earlier.
Alibaba generated revenue of US$11 billion (NZ$15 billion) for the 12 months to March 31.
The company's market value is around US$194 billion (NZ$281 billion).
When it listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014 Alibaba was the biggest Initial Public Offering (IPO) in history. It raised US$25 billion (NZ$36 billion) from investors. That is despite the company being little known by US shoppers.
Founder Jack Ma's net worth is now valued at US22.5 billion (NZ$32 billion).
The company faces challenges. Its margins are under pressure as it continues to invest in newer businesses, including food delivery and logistics companies.
Alibaba recently announced it is buying Southeast Asian online retailer Lazada Group for around US1 billion.
The company has struggled to match the lofty expectations for its investors. The US share price is down around thirty percent from its peak.
Today's result saw Alibaba's US stock price rise 3.97 percent to US$78.83.
Newshub.
