Alibaba.com Skimpy Product Development Excuses

Alibaba.com Limited (HKSE:1688) (HK.1688) announced Q1 results which show increasing revenues and decreasing profits. The classic conundrum for a growth company. The executive excuse is that they are spending on product development which while true is also troubling.

Alibaba could not or would not explain how much longer this state of affairs is expected to continue. They also did not explain where they are focusing their development efforts. Just stating that they are in e-commerce in China, Japan and other countries is not enough. Investors need to understand the product offerings and hear reports on results. The press release underwhelms in terms of disclosure and transparency.