Alibaba Group HoldingBABATOP PICKMay 31, 2017Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Jul 24, 2026. Market Open.
Looks great on the numbers -- growth rate, EPS, etc. Trouble is you don't know what's going to happen with the Chinese government. This is a known hazard. Even when you do everything right with your portfolio, you'll still be hit by the unexpected. As an investor, you need open markets and the rule of law.
E-commerce and cloud computing (the most nascent piece). E-commerce is under a lot of strain. AI large-language models are compelling in Chinese market, but that entire market is very competitive and ripe for disruptors. A trading stock over the next 2-3 years. Not a buy-and-hold. Tactically a buy today, but be very careful.
Like Amazon, they dominate key secular growth areas in e-commerce, are in cloud computer though trade at only one third of Amazon's PE. Is a modest grower, but has a huge margin of safety. There's so much pessimism about tariffs now. Wait and see, but would be an opportunity if the tariffs are more bark than bite.
Even though this has performed well, it is still the leading e-commerce leader, and more importantly they are figuring out more ways to diversify their revenues and just linked to e-commerce. Think of e-data helping companies target the segment that they want. The other really interesting thing is the Ali-Cloud. They initially started the Cloud computing business in 2009, because they needed a lot of capacity themselves. Now, it is the only Cloud provider in China that provides full inter-services. (Analysts’ price target is $140.)