Alibaba Shares Surge on AI and Cloud Growth Projections

Alibaba Group Holding Limited shares jumped up to 13.8% in Hong Kong on Wednesday after analysts projected a significant acceleration in revenue growth for the June quarter. Analysts from UBS and Jefferies expect revenue growth to reach 9%, a sharp increase from the 3% growth seen in the previous quarter.

The rally is fueled by increasing demand for artificial intelligence and improving margins within core e-commerce operations. Additionally, losses in the company's food delivery sector have narrowed. UBS specifically projects that the cloud unit will see 45% revenue growth, with annual recurring revenue from AI model services hitting 10 billion yuan.

The stock surge contributed to a broader rally in the tech sector, with the Hang Seng Tech Index climbing nearly 5%. Other major firms, including Tencent Holdings and Meituan, also saw share price increases of 3.8% and 3.3%, respectively.