Alibaba shares hit record highs Thursday before the markets even opened.
Shares of the e-commerce giant were up around 13% in premarket trading after the company forecasted a nearly 50% year-over-year increase in 2018 revenue. The increase was much higher than 35.8% growth that analysts had forecast, according to Yahoo Finance.
The growth is impressive but less so than the numbers Alibaba posted in its fiscal year 2017, which ended in March. Last fiscal year, the company increased revenue by 56% demonstrating Chinese consumers still-growing hunger for online shopping.
Alibaba's stock has gained more than 60% since January.
Shares of Chinese online rival, Tencent, have also been on the move as of late. They're up 32% so far this year.
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