Alibaba shares climbed 3.1% in U.S. premarket trading following a LatePost report showing the company captured 35.8% of China's AI cloud market in the first half of 2025. The tech giant's AI Cloud revenue reached RMB22.3 billion, surpassing its top competitors combined. This dominance sets a strong foundation for its upcoming press conference on the Qwen app ecosystem.

The company's Qwen app, which is free unlike ChatGPT, is evolving into a comprehensive AI agent. It integrates services like Taobao price comparisons and Amap navigation, leveraging Alibaba's vast ecosystem. Jefferies analyst Thomas Chong expects major applications including Taobao and Alipay to integrate with Qwen soon, offering users diverse services across different scenarios.

Industry growth is explosive, with Omdia projecting China's AI revenue will surge 149% to RMB51.8 billion in 2025. Jefferies estimates Alibaba currently holds a 40% market share, anticipating it will capture 80% of incremental industry growth in 2026. Analysts predict the stock could maintain triple-digit growth momentum if the sector sustains high double-digit expansion.