Alibaba beats revenue estimates on demand for niche China shopping services

The company, however, said it would not issue a forecast for the new fiscal year, citing pandemic-related risks and uncertainties

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd on Thursday beat expectations for fourth-quarter revenue, as growing demand for some of its niche online shopping services in China offset weakness at its main marketplaces caused by the country's COVID-19 lockdowns.

U.S.-listed Alibaba shares, which have lost roughly a third of their value so far this year, were up about 5% in premarket trading.

Revenue in Alibaba's cloud computing division rose 12% to 18.97 billion yuan in the reported quarter. At the core commerce unit, its largest, revenue rose 8% to 140.33 billion yuan.

The company, however, said it would not issue a forecast for the new fiscal