Alibaba on Thursday beat expectations for fourth-quarter revenue, as growing demand for some of its niche online shopping services in China offset weakness at its main marketplaces caused by the country’s COVID-19 lockdowns. US-listed Alibaba shares, which have lost roughly a third of their value so far this year, were up about 5 percent in premarket trading. Revenue in Alibaba’s cloud computing division rose 12 percent to 18.97 billion yuan (roughly Rs. 21,845 crore) in the reported quarter. At the core commerce unit, its largest, revenue rose 8 percent to 140.33 billion yuan (roughly Rs. 1,61,643 crore). The company, however,...