Alibaba Posts First Profit Growth Since 2020 as Cuts Take Hold

(Bloomberg) — Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s profit surged a better-than-expected 69% after China’s e-commerce leader reined in spending and narrowed losses abroad, taking steps to make up for anemic growth in a Covid-struck home market.

The bottom-line gains partly reflect deep cost cuts at a company that once spent aggressively to dominate a string of industries from brick-and-mortar retail to media before Beijing forced fundamental changes to its business model. The company is now focused on buoying profits while navigating increasingly tough competition from arch-rival JD.com Inc. as well as up-and-comers such as PDD Holdings Inc.