Alibaba Group has bought back shares worth $4.8 billion in the quarter ended March, the Chinese e-commerce giant said on Tuesday, in its second biggest-ever repurchase after beefing up its stock buyback plan in February, reports Reuters. The company had raised its share buyback plan by another $25 billion in a bid to appease investors concerned over its growth prospects as it faces new market rivals such as PDD.
Alibaba, which is listed in both Hong Kong and the US, had bought back $2.9 billion worth of stock in the previous quarter. Its Hong Kong shares have lost more than 6% of their value this year, amid growing worries over the e-commerce pioneer’s fall in earnings, per-user spending and deteriorating Chinese consumption.
These factors have contributed to the once-market dominant internet firm losing its market share to rivals such as PDD and TikTok owner ByteDance.