Updated Nov 10, 2019

Alibaba reports $13 billion in sales in first hour and two minutes of Singles' Day

Taylor Swift performs at the start of Singles Day. Photo: STR/AFP via Getty Images

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group reported on Monday that sales reached 91.2 billion yuan ($13 billion) within the first hour and two minutes of Singles' Day, an annual 24-hour shopping fest akin to Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the United States, according to Reuters.

Why it matters: Singles' Day is the world's largest online sales event. Last year, Alibaba reported $30 billion worth of Singles' Day sales, dwarfing the $7.9 billion of online sales for last year's Cyber Monday in the U.S.

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Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that the $13 billion was reached within the first hour and two minutes.

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Dion Rabouin

Singles' Day shows how Alibaba has grown

Data: Renaissance Capital; Chart: Axios Visuals

Alibaba's Singles' Day delivered roughly $38.4 billion in sales Monday, 26% higher than the previous year's total.

The intrigue: The one-day Chinese festival, a corporate-created answer to Valentine's Day, recorded sales that were billions of dollars higher than the combined total expected from Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping in the U.S., according to projections from Adobe Analytics.

Go deeperNov 12, 2019

Dan Primack

Alibaba Group raises $11.2 billion in Hong Kong listing

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Alibaba Group raised around $11.2 billion via a secondary share sale in Hong Kong.

Why it matters: It's the largest Hong Kong listing in nearly a decade and returns Alibaba to the exchange where it first listed in 2007 (later it went private and then IPO'd in New York).

Go deeperNov 20, 2019

Dan Primack

Alibaba moves forward with secondary stock listing in Hong Kong

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Alibaba Group is moving forward with a secondary stock listing in Hong Kong that could raise more than $15 billion by the end of November, per multiple media reports.

Why it matters: This would rank as the ninth-largest equity float of all time, or tenth if Saudi Aramco somehow gets out first, with Alibaba's New York IPO currently in top position.

Go deeperNov 12, 2019