Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba Group reported an 18% drop in annual net profit for the financial year ended March 31, 2026, as weak domestic consumption and increased artificial intelligence investments weighed on earnings.
According to the company’s filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Alibaba posted a net profit of 105.9 billion yuan (US$15.6 billion), compared with 129.5 billion yuan recorded in the previous financial year.
Despite the annual decline in profit, the company achieved modest revenue growth in the final quarter of the fiscal year. Quarterly revenue rose 3% year-on-year to 243.4 billion yuan, driven by steady expansion across Alibaba’s digital ecosystem.
Alibaba has intensified investments in AI technologies as competition among Chinese technology companies accelerates in the race to dominate generative AI and agentic AI development.
Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu said Alibaba’s full-stack AI strategy had moved beyond the incubation stage into large-scale commercialisation. He added that the company sees significant opportunities in the rapidly growing field of agentic AI.
The company recently integrated agentic capabilities from its open-source Qwen AI model into its Taobao shopping platform, enabling AI systems to perform tasks and make decisions on behalf of users.
Alibaba is also reportedly among several firms considering investments in Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, highlighting the intensifying battle for leadership in China’s evolving AI sector.
