Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTEbube JonesMon, June 15, 2026 at 5:42 PM GMT+2 5 min readChina’s e‑commerce market has been stuck in a profit squeeze, with platforms cutting prices to keep shoppers spending while demand stays patchy. During last year’s Singles’ Day, the world’s biggest online shopping event, sales growth slowed to roughly half the pace seen in 2024 as bargain hunters traded down to cheaper options.So when the big platforms rolled out fresh discount pushes and “billion‑yuan subsidy” campaigns ahead of the 2026 June 18 shopping festival, regulators were already on alert.More News from BarchartA $1.24 Trillion Reason to Buy Dell Stock NowA Major Short Squeeze Could Be Brewing in Cracker Barrel StockTired of missing midday reversals? The FREE Barchart Brief newsletter keeps you in the know. Sign up now!That scrutiny landed squarely on Alibaba Group (BABA) and JD.com (JD) on Thursday, June 11, when officials hauled in platform executives and publicly accused them of misleading shoppers with overstated discounts, saying the real subsidies were much smaller than advertised.The warning hit Alibaba Group hard. The stock slid again after already dropping 41% from its 52‑week high of $192.67, adding to a long history of run‑ins with regulators that has included billions in fines since Beijing’s first big antitrust case in 2021. The fact that this latest slap came in the middle of the 618 shopping season made it sting even more.So is this just another headline that passes, or a sign that even a revamped, AI-focused Alibaba Group still cannot escape Beijing’s grip on its most profitable levers?Alibaba runs a big online marketplace at the core of its business, and builds on that with cloud, digital media, and logistics, earning mainly from commissions, ads, and other paid services.In the market, though, the stock has struggled. Over the past 52 weeks it is up marginally at 0.35%, and year-to-date (YTD) it is off 22.72%.www.barchart.comEven with that slide, Alibaba Group trades at 16.7 times forward price-to-earnings, still richer than the sector’s roughly 15.97 times, so investors are paying a premium for its scale and assets.The company now pays a dividend, with an annual yield of about 0.82%, which works out to a 0.95 annualized yield based on recent payouts. The most recent dividend of 1.030 was declared on June 11, 2026, and is paid once a year, with a forward payout ratio of 30.45% and only one year of back‑to‑back increases so far.The latest March‑quarter numbers tell a mixed story. Revenue grew 3% year-over-year (YOY) to RMB 243.4 billion (approximately $35.3 billion), or 11% if you strip out the businesses Alibaba Group has sold, but adjusted EBITA fell 84% as it poured money into technology, quick commerce, and user experience.Terms and Privacy PolicyPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore Info