Alibaba posts white-hot Q3, driven by more mobile sales growth

In the second quarter of 2015, Alibaba broke new ground: for the first time ever, more than half of the company’s revenues came from mobile sales. In the third quarter, according to the company’s report today, that trend continued in a big way. Mobile revenues accounted for 51 percent of Alibaba’s total China commerce revenue in Q2, and just a quarter later, that number is up to 61 percent.

Strong mobile growth

In total, Alibaba reported US$3.5 billion in revenue this quarter, which represents year-on-year growth of 32 percent. Its gross merchandise volume (GMV) this quarter was US$112 billion, up 28 percent year-on-year.

But it’s in mobile where the growth numbers get really crazy. This quarter, the company’s mobile GMV was US$69 billion, which is up 121 percent year-on-year.

That’s a massive lift, and it has been powered by two things. First, a growth in users: Alibaba’s monthly active mobile users hit 346 million this quarter, up 59 percent year on year. Second, the company’s mobile monetization rate has jumped from 2.16 percent in June to 2.39 percent now. That might seem like a tiny difference; it’s just 0.23 percent growth. But when you’ve got 346 million users, 0.23 percent monetization growth means nearly 800,000 more people are buying when they hop on Alibaba’s mobile apps, as compared to last quarter. That’s nothing to sneeze at.

Crunching the numbers further suggests that Alibaba’s mobile users spent slightly more in Q3, too. Given a mobile GMV of US$69 billion, the company’s 346 million mobile users spent an average of nearly US$199.50 each. That’s an improvement over last quarter, where mobile users spent about US$195 each.

If you’re the visual sort, here’s how Alibaba itself breaks down its quarterly accomplishments:

Growth amidst the slowdown

While these numbers are impressive, Alibaba’s overall earnings picture in Q3 2015 certainly doesn’t present the kind of skyrocketing growth you may remember from the company’s heady pre-IPO days. But in the context of China’s economic slowdown, many were expecting weaker numbers from Alibaba.

Wall Street was certainly impressed by the company’s Q3 numbers. After the earnings were announced, Alibaba’s stock jumped nearly 9 percent – just a week ago the stock was under US$70 a share, and after the Q3 numbers broke, its stock broke US$82 per share. The share price has since slid backwards somewhat.