Shares of China's e-commerce giant Alibaba went up 2.77 percent to close at 163.92 U.S. dollars on Thursday after the company announced better-than-expected quarterly earnings report.

The Hangzhou-based company said its net profit jumped 96 percent to more than 2.1 billion U.S. dollars year on year in the first fiscal quarter ending June, beating market expectations.

Moreover, the number of active buyers on Alibaba' s retail platform climbed to 466 million, accounting for about one third of the Chinese population.

"Alibaba had a strong start to fiscal 2018, reflecting the strength and diversity of our business and the value we bring to customers on our platforms," said Daniel Zhang, Alibaba CEO. "Our technology is driving significant growth across our business and strengthening our position beyond commerce."

Investment banks J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley raised their long-term price targets for Alibaba from 190, 170 U.S. dollars to 205, 200 U.S. dollars respectively on Thursday.

Alibaba was the rare highlight on Thursday' s waning U.S. stock market, with all three indices plunging over 1 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting biggest one-day decline in three months.