Jack Ma-Backed Ant’s Profit Fell 31% on AI, New Business Costs

Ant Group Co.’s quarterly profit fell 31% as the firm invested in artificial intelligence and other initiatives to bolster revenue growth.

The Hangzhou-based online finance firm contributed 1.76 billion yuan ($244 million) of profit to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Considering Alibaba’s one-third stake in Ant, that translates to an estimated 5.3 billion yuan in profit for the three months ended Dec. 31, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Alibaba’s earnings report.

That follows a more than 50-fold surge in the previous quarter that was helped by investment gains. Ant’s earnings lag a quarter behind Alibaba’s. Ant declined to comment ...