Hong Kong — Alibaba Group Holding showed once again that a slowing Chinese economy is not holding it back. The country’s largest operator of internet shopping malls posted sales and earnings that beat analyst estimates as revenue easily outstripped economic growth. Moreover, Alibaba’s fledgling cloud computing business more than doubled sales and almost broke even, a significant feat for a capital-intensive business. The results come about a week before Katy Perry kicks off Alibaba’s annual Singles’ Day event, the world’s biggest 24-hour shopping promotion and a closely watched barometer of Chinese consumer health. Alibaba continues to capture a greater share of digital advertising as users shift to mobile devices and marketers spend more money online. "I don’t know if anyone’s doing better than Alibaba," said Gil Luria, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, commenting on Chinese internet companies. "They were able to drive growth by expanding beyond e-commerce in mobile browsing, media...
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