Alibaba's hiring freeze sparks earning concerns, shares sink

Visitor walks at the headquarters of Alibaba Group in Hangzhou city, East China's Zhejiang province, Sept 21, 2014. [Photo/IC]

Alibaba Group Holding stood afloat at $80 after a five-day losing streak, extending the trough since the e-commerce behemoth's record $25 billion initial public offering.

The longest decline in a month started on April 29 when Jack Ma Yun, executive chairman of Alibaba, said the company would freeze hiring this year after expanding too quickly.

The current staff size of more than 30,000 should be sufficient enough to cover operations, said Ma.

Such remarks sparked concerns for slowing growth, as its shares fell from $85.1 to $79.5. They touched $77.77 earlier on Tuesday before closing, marking the lowest intraday level since the e-commerce giant's IPO in September.

Its shares closed at $80 on Wednesday, up 0.6 percent.

More than $96 billion of market value has evaporated since its peak in November, as Alibaba hit the headlines for alleged negligence on counterfeits and bogus transactions among Taobao vendors who wished to boast sales volume to gain prominence.