(Aug 18): Alibaba Group Holding Ltd shares rose the most in two weeks as the launch of a new e-commerce platform boosted optimism towards the company before its June quarter earnings this week.

The stock jumped as much as 5% in Hong Kong after Alipay rolled out a new “all-in-one” platform for businesses aimed at using artificial intelligence (AI) agents to automate tasks. Alibaba shares have now rallied more than 40% from a low in June, rebounding from a sell-off earlier this year.

“Alipay will help build a new generation of AI-powered services and support agentic commerce growth,” Cyril Han, the chief executive officer of Ant Group, said in a statement announcing the new platform.

The tech giant is expected to say revenue grew 8.4% for the three months ended June, while free cash flow is set to remain negative due to its AI investments, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts before the results due on Thursday.

Funds have been rotating towards Alibaba and away from Tencent Holdings Ltd after the latter released sluggish earnings last week, while Alibaba is perceived as having more visible growth thanks to its cloud services, according to Steven Leung, an executive director at UOB Kay Hian in Hong Kong. 

The launch of Alibaba’s new platform comes after the firm debuted its AI agent interface Ah Bao in June, which enables consumers to access everyday services, such as paying bills, ordering coffee, or finding electric vehicle chargers. The introduction of the new products is seen helping Alibaba boost its appeal to potential users amid weak domestic consumption in China.

Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee