Alibaba Group Holding Limited American Depositary Shares, each represents eight Ordinary Shares - BABA STOCK NEWS

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA) has increased its share repurchase program from US$15 billion to US$25 billion, signaling confidence in future growth. The enhanced program will be effective for two years, ending in March 2024. By March 18, 2022, the company had already repurchased 56.2 million shares for approximately US$9.2 billion. Additionally, Weijian Shan has been appointed as an independent director, effective March 31, 2022, as Börje Ekholm steps down after six years.

Farfetch Limited reported a record GMV of $4.2 billion for 2021, up 33% year-over-year, with a 35% revenue increase to $2.3 billion. Q4 GMV rose 22% year-over-year to $1.3 billion, while Q4 revenue grew 23% to $666 million. The company achieved an Adjusted EBITDA of $36 million for Q4, marking its first profitable year at this level. Profit after tax reached $97 million, boosted by $217 million in non-cash gains. Digital platform GMV accounted for 85% of total GMV. The company remains optimistic about growth in 2022, focusing on expanding its luxury fashion market share.

Alibaba Group reported its financial results for Q3 2021, showing revenue of RMB 242.58 billion ($38.07 billion), a 10% increase year-over-year. Key segments contributing to growth included China commerce, which rose 7% to RMB 172.23 billion, and Cloud services, which grew 20% to RMB 19.54 billion. However, income from operations plummeted by 86% to RMB 7.07 billion due to a significant goodwill impairment of RMB 25.14 billion. Alibaba also announced plans for carbon neutrality by 2030 and repurchased $1.4 billion of shares, reflecting confidence in long-term prospects.

Weavr has successfully closed a $40 million Series A funding round led by Tiger Global, marking its third funding round in just 18 months, totaling $55 million. This funding aims to facilitate Weavr's U.S. market launch and international expansion in the embedded finance sector. Weavr's innovative Plug-and-Play Finance model allows businesses to integrate financial services rapidly, diverging from traditional BaaS models that impose heavy costs and complexities. With a focus on simplifying compliance, Weavr is poised to expand across various industries globally.

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA) will release its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2021, before U.S. markets open on February 24, 2022. A conference call discussing these results will take place at 7:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time (8:30 p.m. Hong Kong Time) the same day. Dial-in numbers for various regions are provided, and a live webcast will be accessible online. An archived version will also be available post-call.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) reported a record 27,876 Micro NYSE FANG+™ Index futures contracts traded on January 4, 2022. In 2021, the technology sector thrived, leading to increased investor interest in FAANG stocks, recently including Microsoft. The MICRO NYSE FANG+™ futures, reduction in notional value to $35,000 in September 2020, enhanced market participation in 2021. The NYSE FANG+™ Index has shown strong performance, averaging a 31.93% gross total return from September 2014 to December 2021. For details on futures, visit theice.com/fangplus.

Haomo.AI, a Beijing-based autonomous driving startup, has successfully raised nearly 1 billion yuan (approximately USD 150 million) in its Series A funding round, achieving unicorn status. Major investors include Meituan, GL Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, and Shoucheng Holdings. The funds will enhance R&D for autonomous driving technology, with plans to expand its Level 2 driving system to 34 vehicle models by the end of 2022, potentially powering over 1 million vehicles in three years. Haomo also produces Level 4 logistics vehicles for partners like Meituan and Alibaba.

Strategy Analytics reports that the smart speaker market grew by 10% year-over-year, reaching 39.3 million units shipped in Q3 2021. Smart display sales surged nearly 19% to 11.2 million units. Google led the smart display segment with 1.5 million units, while its Nest Mini topped overall sales at over 5 million units. However, ongoing supply chain issues, exacerbated by semiconductor shortages and COVID-19 variants, are affecting vendors, particularly in China, which typically accounts for 30%-40% of the market. These challenges may dampen growth until at least 2023.