Revenue rose to 24.2 billion yuan ($3.7 billion) in the quarter ended March 31 from 17.4 billion yuan a year earlier, beating the average analyst estimate of 23.22 billion yuan, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company's American Depository shares were up 3.5 percent at $78.48 on Thursday.

Jack Ma, of Alibaba Group, addresses the Economic Club of New York at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York, June 9, 2015.

"Whatever they are doing must be working, and most importantly it's a sign that the Chinese consumer may not be weakening quite yet," said Gil Luria of Wedbush Securities.

Gross merchandise volume (GMV), or the total value of goods transacted on its platforms on China retail marketplaces, rose 24 percent to 742 billion yuan.

"Alibaba represents a big part of the spend by Chinese consumers and so a re-acceleration in volumes is an indication that the Chinese consumer continues to be strong," Luria said.

Alibaba has been grappling with a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy. It is also dealing with signs of maturation after years of breakneck growth for Internet businesses as hundreds of millions of people came online.