Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Shares Down 3.2% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) fell 3.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $138.61 and last traded at $141.0750. 19,057,719 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 59% from the average session volume of 11,965,851 shares. The stock had previously closed at $145.81.

Trending Headlines about Alibaba Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Alibaba Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba’s cloud and AI businesses remained the main bright spot, with cloud revenue up 38% year over year and AI-related revenue continuing to grow at a rapid pace, reinforcing the view that BABA is becoming a larger AI infrastructure player in China.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple Wall Street firms raised price targets after the report, including HSBC, JPMorgan, Barclays, and Mizuho, signaling that analysts see meaningful upside if AI and cloud growth continues to scale.
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that U.S. authorities may allow Nvidia H200 chip sales to approved Chinese firms, including Alibaba, could support AI development and ease some supply constraints for the company’s broader AI push.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alibaba also declared a dividend, which is supportive for shareholders, but it is not the main driver of the stock’s move today.
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly earnings fell far short of estimates as aggressive spending on AI, cloud, commerce, and food delivery crushed profitability, with core profit plunging sharply.
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue growth was only modest and came in slightly below expectations, reminding investors that Alibaba’s turnaround is still uneven despite the AI narrative.
• Negative Sentiment: Several headlines highlighted continued pressure on margins and investor concern that heavy AI spending has not yet translated into near-term earnings power.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BABA. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $186.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $172.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $174.00 to $164.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.00.

Alibaba Group Stock Down 3.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The company has a market cap of $338.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.62, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $131.54 and a 200 day moving average of $149.73.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The specialty retailer reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $35.30 billion during the quarter. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 7.43%. Research analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Alibaba Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 72.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. Alibaba Group’s dividend payout ratio is 17.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its stake in Alibaba Group by 26.4% during the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 302 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Bluesphere Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bluesphere Advisors LLC now owns 3,023 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 254 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,661 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,191,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 16,420 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,407,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Alibaba Group

Alibaba Group Holding Limited is a Chinese multinational conglomerate founded in 1999 in Hangzhou, China, by Jack Ma and a group of co?founders. The company built its business around internet-based commerce and related services and has grown into one of the largest e-commerce and technology companies in the world. Alibaba completed a high?profile initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014.

The company operates a portfolio of online marketplaces and platforms serving different customer segments: Alibaba.com for global and domestic B2B trade, Taobao for consumer-to-consumer shopping, and Tmall for brand and retailer storefronts targeted at Chinese consumers.