Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

BABA has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Alibaba Group from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Alibaba Group from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Argus upgraded Alibaba Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Erste Group Bank lowered Alibaba Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Alibaba Group from $174.00 to $164.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alibaba Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.68.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

Shares of BABA opened at $135.69 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $134.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.53. Alibaba Group has a 12-month low of $103.71 and a 12-month high of $192.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $324.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.33.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The specialty retailer reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 9.12%.The firm had revenue of $40.71 billion for the quarter. Equities research analysts forecast that Alibaba Group will post 4.39 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BABA. NTV Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Alibaba Group by 127.4% during the third quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 15,143 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 8,484 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alibaba Group during the third quarter valued at $37,565,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in Alibaba Group by 14.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 30,361 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,427,000 after purchasing an additional 3,929 shares during the last quarter. Great Hill Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Alibaba Group during the third quarter valued at $2,207,000. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in Alibaba Group during the third quarter valued at $1,966,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Alibaba Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba’s Qwen AI signed its first commercial tie-up with China Eastern Airlines, enabling natural‑language flight search, booking and trip management — a concrete consumer use case that can monetize Qwen and boost platform engagement. Alibaba’s Qwen AI Partnerships Highlight New Use Cases And Valuation Gap
• Positive Sentiment: Qwen was expanded into multiple Chinese automakers at the Beijing auto show, bringing voice bookings, payments and delivery services in‑car — a path to recurring revenue and deeper ecosystem adoption. Alibaba’s Qwen AI is coming to cars, allowing drivers order food and book hotels by voice
• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba Cloud’s Qwen models are now accessible on‑chain to autonomous AI agents via a 0G Foundation integration — this positions Qwen as an infrastructure play for on‑chain AI use cases, potentially opening new enterprise and developer revenue streams. 0G to Make Alibaba’s Qwen wModels Accessible to AI Agents via Blockchain Integration
• Positive Sentiment: Reports say Alibaba is in talks with Tencent to invest in AI startup DeepSeek — a strategic stake could accelerate Alibaba’s AI roadmap and consolidate talent/tech access in China. Alibaba Weighs DeepSeek AI Stake As Social Commerce Role Expands
• Neutral Sentiment: DeepSeek released a V4 preview and other Chinese players (e.g., Tencent) unveiled upgraded models — intensifying competition in China’s LLM market; this could both spur faster adoption and compress pricing/margins. China’s DeepSeek releases preview of long-awaited V4 model as AI race intensifies
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks downgraded BABA from “hold” to “strong sell,” which can pressure sentiment and trigger short‑term selling by retail/quant traders tracking ratings. Zacks Research Downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Alibaba disclosed issuance of new shares under equity incentive plans in April 2026 — potential dilution that investors will watch when assessing EPS and valuation. Alibaba Issues New Shares Under Equity Incentive Plans in April 2026

Alibaba Group Company Profile

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.