Shares of Alibaba Group (BABA) listed in the U.S. are jumping 6% in intraday trading Thursday after the Chinese tech and e-commerce giant reported quarterly results that beat estimates on the back of growth in its cloud business, which includes its artificial intelligence initiatives.

The company said revenue in its December quarter rose 7.6% to 280.15 billion Chinese yuan (around $38.5 billion) year-over-year. Earnings per share per ADS of $2.93 also beat estimates. Both results beat consensus estimates from analysts polled by Visible Alpha.

“This quarter’s results demonstrated substantial progress in our ‘user first, AI-driven’ strategies and the reaccelerated growth of our core businesses," CEO Eddie Wu said.

He added that cloud revenue growth jumped 13% year-over-year in its fiscal third-quarter, with artificial intelligence (AI)-related product revenue "achieving triple-digit growth for the sixth consecutive quarter.

Alibaba shares have soared more than 80% inthe last 12 months, amid reports that it is tying up with Apple (AAPL) to create AI features for iPhones in China. Also boosting its stock are reports that its co-founder Jack Ma is back into Beijing’s fold as he attended a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, according to The Wall Street Journal.