Markets
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Luke Kawa

Alibaba booms after e-commerce and AI-enhanced cloud business results impress

Alibaba delivered an across-the-board beat on its quarterly report for the final three months of 2024 as the Chinese e-commerce and cloud giant seemingly goes from strength to strength.

The headline figures exceeded expectations, with adjusted earnings per share of 21.39 yuan handedly besting the consensus estimate of 19.12 on revenues of 280.15 billion yuan (forecast: 277.4 billion).

Shares jumped double digits in early trading, firmly pulling away from the $120 level that had marked a short-term peak for the stock over the past three years.

The highlights included:

  • A core business that did better than anticipated, with domestic e-commerce sales of 136.1 billion yuan that blew away the consensus estimate of 131.7 billion.

  • A higher-margin cloud business with better-than-projected and accelerating revenue growth. Drilling down, AI-related sales in particular delivered triple-digit growth, year on year.

“Looking ahead, revenue growth at Cloud Intelligence Group driven by AI will continue to accelerate,” Alibaba Group CEO Eddie Wu said. “We will continue to execute against our strategic priorities in e-commerce and cloud computing, including further investment to drive long-term growth.”

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Nia Warfield, Luke Kawa
22h
US stocks end a down week with a gain

An up day but a down week for the benchmark US stock index.

Cowboy Riding Bucking Steer
markets
Luke Kawa

Crocs rises on new marketing campaign for HeyDude brand starring Sydney Sweeney


Sydney Sweeney has great... feet?

Shares of Crocs are rising after the footwear company’s HeyDude brand unveiled a new marketing effort starring actress Sydney Sweeney for its Austin Lift shoe line.

Sweeney’s controversial ad campaign for American Eagle spurred a massive jump in the denim maker’s shares, caught the attention of the president, and prompted “an uptick in customer awareness, engagement, and comparable sales,” per American Eagle’s management.

Sweeney was first announced as HeyDude’s global spokesperson in August 2024, and doesn’t seem to have given the brand a major boost so far.

Max Knoblauch
9/26/25

Ford and GM reach 52-week highs as EPA seeks to repeal emissions rules

Shares of Ford and GM are each trading at 52-week highs on Friday, as investors pile into gas-powered US automakers with the looming end of the EV tax credit and the Trump administration’s potential repeal of vehicle emissions standards.

A lobby representing Ford, GM, and nearly all other major automakers has expressed support for the EPA’s proposal to repeal the long-standing endangerment finding that declared greenhouse gases a threat to human life. The finding provides the legal foundation for the EPA to regulate vehicle emissions.

Yesterday, EV giant Tesla urged the Trump administration to keep the standards in place.

Friday afternoon saw Ford shares reach their highest level since July 2024, while GM’s stock hit highs not seen since January 2022.

Citi equity analysts on the key valuation issue facing the market.

Citi’s US market analyst on the key valuation test facing the market

“It kind of comes down to, what inning do you think we are in this AI game?”

Matt Phillips9/26/25
markets
Luke Kawa

GameStop surges as company offers promotions to boost launch of “Pokémon” Mega Evolution set

GameStop is jumping as the company offers promotions to boost interest for today’s North American launch of the Mega Evolution set of the “Pokémon Trading Card Game.”

Options activity is a little more tilted to the bull side than usual. Over the past month, a little less than four calls have changed hands for every put option. As of 10:22 a.m. ET, that ratio is over five to one.

It’s a big day for collectibles fans and gamers alike: beyond the “Pokémon TCG” drop, there are also new collections from “Yu-Gi-Oh!” and “Magic: The Gathering” being released and “EA SPORTS FC 26,” as well.

As we’ve written, “Pokémon” trading cards have been skyrocketing in value, and GameStop’s collectibles business has been accelerating. These are two sides of the same coin.

Mega Gardevoir... here I come!

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