Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Lowered to Hold Rating by Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports.

BABA has been the subject of several other reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Nomura lifted their target price on Alibaba Group from $193.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Alibaba Group from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.17.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BABA opened at $155.91 on Wednesday. Alibaba Group has a 12 month low of $95.73 and a 12 month high of $192.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $372.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50 day moving average is $159.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.99.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 7,680.3% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,014,147 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $881,554,000 after acquiring an additional 5,936,847 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 1,074.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,038,318 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,079,229,000 after purchasing an additional 5,524,354 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Alibaba Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $527,243,000. Alkeon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alibaba Group in the second quarter valued at about $184,291,000. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in Alibaba Group during the third quarter worth about $290,208,000. Institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Alibaba Group News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Launch of Qwen‑3.5 — Alibaba unveiled Qwen3.5 (faster, cheaper, agent-capable), which management says cuts costs and boosts throughput; investors view this as a clear AI/capability catalyst that could lift cloud and AI monetization. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Cloud momentum — recent analysis notes strong AI-driven cloud revenue growth (e.g., +34% YoY cited) that could underpin longer‑term revenue upside if monetization improves. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical setup — chartists point to a bull‑flag breakout and a post‑breakout pullback testing Fibonacci/channel support; a higher swing low would be needed to confirm resumed upside. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst consensus — some services still rate BABA favorably (consensus “Moderate Buy”), but views are diverging ahead of Q3 results. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade — Erste Group cut BABA from Buy to Hold, signaling caution among some institutional analysts and reducing near‑term buying pressure. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing securities‑fraud investigation — a shareholder law firm continues an investigation into possible federal securities‑law violations, adding legal/settlement risk that can weigh on sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Earnings and margin pressure — bearish research highlights plunging operating income, negative levered free cash flow, heavy AI/tech spend and a valuation that has run ahead of earnings (P/E expansion), arguing risk currently outweighs reward. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive headwinds — comparisons to Amazon/AWS point to tougher competition in cloud and AI infrastructure, which could pressure margins and growth if Alibaba fails to monetize as quickly. Read More.

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.