Alibaba is placing HK$80bn, about $10.2bn, of new shares in Hong Kong and says all net proceeds will go to AI infrastructure and capabilities. It comes days after the company reported a 75% fall in quarterly net profit driven by that same spending.
Alibaba is going to the market for money to spend on AI, and it is not being coy about the proportion. The company is placing HK$80bn of new shares in Hong Kong, around $10.2bn, and says 100% of net proceeds will fund its full stack AI capabilities including infrastructure.
The size is a record on two counts. Alibaba calls it the largest primary follow-on offering ever by a Hong Kong-listed company, and the biggest Regulation S equity offering on record, meaning shares sold to investors outside the United States.
Globally it lands third this year. Only Alphabet, which raised $85bn in equity, and Intel have run larger primary follow-ons in 2026.
The timing is what makes it interesting. Three days earlier Alibaba reported that quarterly net profit had fallen 75%, with capital expenditure up 75% to 67.68bn yuan in the April to June quarter.
