Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA) has raised its share buyback program to $25 billion from $15 billion.
What Happened: Alibaba said on Monday that its board approved the share repurchase program, which will run for two years through March 2024.
The company had purchased 56.2 million American depositary shares for about $9.2 billion, as of March 18, under its previously announced program.
Shares in the company rose more than 4% in Hong Kong after the announcement.
Alibaba also said it had appointed Weijian Shan, executive chairman of investment group PAG, as an independent director. He will replace Ericsson Chief Executive Officer Börje Ekholm from March 31.
See Also: How To Buy Alibaba (BABA) Stock
Why It Matters: This is the second share repurchase increase by Alibaba in less than a year. Alibaba had raised its buyback to $15 billion from $10 billion in August last year.
Alibaba shares lost a whopping 49% in 2021 amid a regulatory clampdown by Chinese authorities. They are down 12.8% so far this year.
In February, Alibaba reported better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter, while revenue missed expectations.
Alibaba is now planning to slash 30% of its workforce after its MMC business division decided to lay off 20% of its employees.
Price Action: Alibaba shares closed 4.4% lower in Monday’s regular trading session at $103.59 and further lost 0.8% in the after-hours session to $102.72.
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