Alibaba vs Oracle: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Alibaba reported ~$142.3B of revenue in FY2026 and ~$14.4B of net income. Oracle reported $67.4B of revenue in FY2026 and $17.1B of net income.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Alibaba
Revenue rose from ~$22 billion (RMB158.3 billion) in FY2017 to ~$142 billion (RMB1.024 trillion) in FY2026. Net income was ~$14.4 billion (RMB103.6 billion) in FY2026, down from ~$17.5 billion (RMB126.0 billion) in FY2025. Alibaba reports on a March 31 fiscal year and invests heavily in commerce, cloud and AI infrastructure.
Oracle
Oracle's revenue grew from $39.1 billion in FY2020 to $57.4 billion in FY2025 and $67.36 billion in FY2026, when net income was $17.09 billion. Growth is now driven by cloud: Q1 FY2027 cloud revenue (IaaS plus SaaS) was $11.6 billion, up 62%, and operating cash flow was a record $23 billion for the quarter. The other side of the ledger is capex. FY2026 capital spending of $55.7 billion pushed free cash flow negative, and Oracle has funded the gap with bond issuance and equity sales. Management guides to at least $90 billion of FY2027 revenue and non-GAAP EPS of $8.10.
Revenue and profit by year
Alibaba
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | ~$142.3B | ~$14.4B | 10.1% | +2.7% | Source |
| FY2025 | ~$138.5B | ~$17.5B | 12.6% | +5.9% | Source |
| FY2024 | ~$130.8B | ~$9.9B | 7.6% | +8.3% | Source |
| FY2023 | ~$120.7B | ~$9.1B | 7.5% | +1.8% | Source |
| FY2022 | ~$118.6B | ~$6.5B | 5.5% | +18.9% | Source |
| FY2021 | ~$99.7B | ~$19.9B | 20.0% | +40.7% | Source |
| FY2020 | ~$70.8B | ~$19.5B | 27.5% | +35.3% | Source |
| FY2019 | ~$52.4B | ~$11.2B | 21.3% | +50.6% | Source |
| FY2018 | ~$34.8B | ~$8.5B | 24.5% | +58.1% | Source |
| FY2017 | ~$22B | ~$6.1B | 27.6% | — | Source |
Oracle
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $67.4B | $17.1B | 25.4% | +17.3% | Source |
| FY2025 | $57.4B | $12.4B | 21.7% | +8.4% | Source |
| FY2024 | $53B | $10.5B | 19.8% | +6.0% | Source |
| FY2023 | $50B | $8.5B | 17.0% | +17.7% | Source |
| FY2022 | $42.4B | $6.7B | 15.8% | +4.8% | Source |
| FY2021 | $40.5B | $13.7B | 34.0% | +3.6% | Source |
| FY2020 | $39.1B | $10.1B | 25.9% | -1.1% | Source |
| FY2019 | $39.5B | $11.1B | 28.1% | +0.3% | Source |
| FY2018 | $39.4B | $3.6B | 9.1% | +4.2% | Source |
| FY2017 | $37.8B | $9.5B | 25.0% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Alibaba
- China commerce
Not formally reported
Alibaba earns revenue through China commerce.
- international digital commerce
Not formally reported
Alibaba earns revenue through international digital commerce.
- cloud intelligence
Not formally reported
Alibaba earns revenue through cloud intelligence.
- logistics services
Not formally reported
Alibaba earns revenue through logistics services.
- local services and digital media
Not formally reported
Alibaba earns revenue through local services and digital media.
Oracle
- Cloud Services and License SupportLargest
OCI, SaaS, database services, and recurring support revenue.
- Cloud License and On-Premise LicenseMaterial
New licenses and cloud license rights for enterprise software.
- ServicesMaterial
Consulting, support, and implementation work.
- HardwareSmaller
Exadata, engineered systems, and related hardware products.
Business model and strategy
Alibaba
How it makes money
Alibaba earns revenue from customer-management services and commissions on its China commerce marketplaces, direct sales and logistics services in international commerce, cloud products and services, Cainiao logistics, local services, and digital media. Taobao and Tmall primarily connect merchants with consumers rather than operating only as first-party retailers.
Growth strategy
Facing intense regulatory scrutiny and fierce domestic competition, Alibaba's growth strategy recently underwent a large structural overhaul. They announced a plan to split the empire into six separate, independent business groups (like Cloud, E-commerce, and Logistics), allowing each to operate faster and potentially seek their own IPOs.
Competitive advantage
Alibaba's primary moat was its large network effect within China; virtually every merchant had to be on Taobao because that's where all the consumers were, and vice versa. their proprietary logistics network (Cainiao) and deep integration with Alipay created a frictionless ecosystem for Chinese consumers.
Oracle
How it makes money
Oracle sells to businesses and governments, not consumers. Its largest revenue line is cloud services and license support: customers pay recurring fees for OCI compute, storage, GPUs and database services, for Fusion Cloud ERP, HCM, SCM and NetSuite subscriptions, and for annual support on licensed Oracle Database and middleware.
Growth strategy
Oracle's growth plan rests on renting AI training and inference capacity at very large scale. It is building data centers for OpenAI under the Stargate program (a partnership OpenAI describes as over $300 billion across five years and up to 4.5 gigawatts), and it also serves xAI, Meta, NVIDIA and AMD workloads.
Competitive advantage
Oracle's edge comes from its installed base. Oracle Database runs core financial, telecom and government systems, and moving those workloads is slow, expensive and risky, which keeps support revenue recurring. OCI adds a price-performance pitch built on bare-metal servers and RDMA networking for large GPU clusters, and Oracle can offer the same database inside rival clouds.
Questions about Alibaba vs Oracle
Which company has higher revenue — Alibaba Group Holding Limited or Oracle Corporation?
Alibaba Group Holding Limited reported ~$142.3B (FY2026), while Oracle Corporation reported $67.4B (FY2026). By last reported revenue, Alibaba Group Holding Limited is the larger business, with Oracle Corporation reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Alibaba Group Holding Limited vs Oracle Corporation?
Alibaba Group Holding Limited's market capitalisation stands at $266.6B, while Oracle Corporation's is $393.6B. Oracle Corporation carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Alibaba Group Holding Limited.
Which is more financially efficient — Alibaba Group Holding Limited or Oracle Corporation?
Alibaba Group Holding Limited generates $1.08M / employee in revenue per employee, while Oracle Corporation generates $478k / employee. Alibaba Group Holding Limited shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Alibaba Group Holding Limited and Oracle Corporation make money?
Alibaba Group Holding Limited and Oracle Corporation generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Alibaba Group Holding Limited: Alibaba earns revenue from customer-management services and commissions on its China commerce marketplaces, direct sales and logistics services in international commerce, cloud products and services, Cainiao logistics, local services, and digital media. Oracle Corporation: Oracle sells to businesses and governments, not consumers.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Alibaba Group Holding Limited or Oracle Corporation?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Alibaba Group Holding Limited trades at 1.9x P/S and Oracle Corporation at 5.8x P/S. Oracle Corporation commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Alibaba Group Holding Limited. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Alibaba Group Holding Limited bigger than Oracle Corporation?
By last reported revenue, Alibaba Group Holding Limited (~$142.3B (FY2026)) is the larger company compared to Oracle Corporation ($67.4B (FY2026)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Alibaba vs Oracle overview