Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang said Wednesday the company remains confident about its growth despite negative developments in China's economy. He spoke after the e-commerce giant delivered quarterly earnings that topped analysts' expectations but revenue came in light.
Shares of Alibaba opened sharply lower on the New York Stock Exchange. (Click here to track its shares.)
China surprised markets by devaluing its currency on Tuesday to support its slowing economy. This followed a 30-percent correction in Chinese stock markets last month.
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"Our company has a very clear long-term growth strategy, and we believe that this short-term movement won't affect our long-term strategy," Zhang told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." "We will closely monitor the consumer behavior and Chinese economy as a whole."
Alibaba posted fiscal first-quarter adjusted earnings of 59 cents a share. Revenue rose to $3.27 billion from $2.54 billion a year ago.
Wall Street had expected the company to deliver adjusted earnings 58 cents a share on $3.39 billion in revenue, according to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters.
The revenue figures came as gross merchandise volume (GMV)—the total value of goods transacted across Alibaba's platforms—rose 34 percent, also rising at its slowest pace in more than three years.
"This particular quarter, there were some one-time issues that hit them. This time, it was the removal of online lotteries, which is a high-monetization category," Rob Sanderson, managing director at MKM Partners, told CNBC's "Squawk Box."
"It was about 2 percent of GMV, so that was probably the primary source of the revenue miss."
The move by the Chinese government to devalue the yuan on Tuesday has raised questions about a tangible slowdown in the country's economy that could lead to impacted earnings for companies like Alibaba.
Nevertheless, Sanderson said Alibaba's stock still has upside. "There's a very significant shift in the way retail is being orchestrated in the Chinese market, and it's moving to online much faster than in any other market in the developed world," he said.
Last week, the Chinese e-commerce company announced the launch of an English-version of its fake hotline. The move is meant to combat its reputation for selling knock-off products, especially after it signed exclusive deals with international retailers.
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Shares of Alibaba have dipped about 17 percent since its IPO last September.