• Alibaba shares jumped Thursday after reporting a sharp profit increase, fueled by strong growth in its Cloud Intelligence and e-commerce divisions. Net income for the December quarter surged to 48.95 billion yuan ($6.72 billion), far exceeding expectations of 40.6 billion yuan and tripling last year’s figure. Revenue reached 280.15 billion yuan, slightly above forecasts. The stock has risen 50% year-to-date, with U.S.-listed shares up 8.5% after the earnings release. CEO Eddie Wu credited the growth to Alibaba’s "user-first, AI-driven" strategy, highlighting 13% cloud revenue growth and continued triple-digit AI product revenue gains.

• Investors are closely watching Alibaba’s AI and cloud expansion, especially after its partnership with Apple to bring AI features to iPhones in China. The company recently launched Qwen 2.5, claiming it surpasses a rival model from Chinese startup DeepSeek. Wu announced plans to significantly increase AI and cloud investments over the next three years. Meanwhile, Taobao and Tmall Group revenue rose 5%, while international e-commerce, including AliExpress and Lazada, surged 32%. As China’s economy faces uncertainty, retail sales rose 3.7% in December, aided by government stimulus, though concerns over consumer spending remain.