3 CEOs Are Buying Millions of Dollars of Their Beaten-Down Stocks

Key Points

• The CEOs of Alibaba, Klarna, and CoStar Group have collectively made more than $20 million in insider stock purchases despite steep share price declines in 2026.
• Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu and director Joseph Tsai bought about $15 million in shares, and analysts see over 60% upside with a consensus price target near $189.
• Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski purchased nearly $10 million in shares after a post-earnings drop, while CoStar CEO Andrew Florance bought shares as that stock fell roughly 50%.

Insider purchases are one of many signals that investors can use to gauge the outlook of a stock. While insider buys are just one piece of a larger picture, they can be particularly notable when made by a company’s top executive: the CEO.

Amid a run of poor performance in 2026, the CEOs of three companies just signaled significant confidence in the path forward. Combined, their purchases total more than $20 million across their respective companies, suggesting the market may be undervaluing these three names.

Alibaba CEO Among Recent Insider Buyers With Shares Down in 2026

First up is one of the largest purchasers of AI hardware outside of the United States, Chinese e-commerce giant and cloud platform Alibaba Group NYSE: BABA. This giant’s stock has run into trouble in 2026 as the company invests both in AI initiatives and its e-commerce network. These investments have put significant pressure on Alibaba’s profitability, with its non-adjusted net income falling 75% year-over-year (YOY) last quarter.

However, the company's cloud business grew impressively by 45% YOY, and its AI-related product revenue grew by triple digits for the twelfth quarter in a row. Additionally, Alibaba's Zhenwu chips are now being used by more than 650 cloud customers. However, profitability concerns have outweighed these positive developments, leaving shares down more than 20% on the year.

Amid this backdrop, multiple top insiders are buying in. This includes CEO Eddie Wu and director Joseph Tsai. In total, their recent purchases come in at just over $15 million. These buys came in near $14.30 per ordinary Alibaba share. With one ordinary share equal to eight of Alibaba’s American Depositary Receipts (ADR), the purchase prices were near $114.40, very close to the NYSE-listed stock's recent levels.

Compared with their very large BABA holdings, these insiders' buys were not huge; for example, Wu’s position increased by around 2.6%. However, the purchases do signal confidence from key players, providing a moderately bullish signal for the stock.

Klarna Leader Ups Stake by $10 Million as Shares Tank Post-Earnings

Payments platform and fintech company Klarna NYSE: KLAR was one of the market's more discussed IPOs in 2025. Shares popped 15% on their first day of trading, demonstrating the initial excitement around the company. However, the stock’s trajectory has been nearly all downhill since. Shares are down more than 65% from that point and have seen significant bouts of volatility along the way. Following Klarna’s last three earnings reports, the stock has moved up or down by 20% or more the following day.

Klarna’s latest report was on the wrong side of the equation, with shares plummeting 22.8%. Despite beating on revenue, earnings per share (EPS), and raising profitability guidance, its growth outlook disappointed.

The company lowered its gross merchandise value guidance, which measures the value of products sold through its platform, to $150 billion at the midpoint. This came due to spending weakness in Germany, Klarna’s largest market by volume.

Evidently, Klarna’s CEO believes that the stock has fallen too far. Sebastian Siemiatkowski bought almost $10 million worth of Klarna shares at $14.37 days after the report, a price near the stock’s recent levels. This buy was also relatively small, increasing Siemiatkowski’s position by around 2.8%, providing another moderately bullish indicator.

CoStar CEO Adds to Huge Position With Shares Down Over 50%

Real estate analytics and marketplace platform provider CoStar Group NASDAQ: CSGP has also seen its share price take a huge hit in 2026. The stock is down approximately 50% on the year, reflecting the company’s declining growth rate. After accelerating to its highest YOY growth rate in 10 years during Q4 2025, the metric has moved in the opposite direction.

CoStar recently cut its guidance, currently expecting to generate full-year revenue growth of 15% YOY, compared to its previous midpoint guidance of 17% YOY.

However, management claims that decelerating its growth rate is a deliberate decision as it pursues more profitable growth. In this respect, CoStar has been successful, with its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) more than doubling last quarter.

This disconnect between the company’s strategy and the market’s appetite for growth may be why insiders are buying in. In Q2 and so far in Q3, CoStar has seen insider purchases of around $2.5 million. Notably, CEO Andrew Florance recently bought 83,000 shares at $29.89, about 5% below the stock’s latest levels. However, the buy was very small relative to Florance’s total holdings of around 1.8 million shares. Overall, the combination of these factors provides a mildly positive signal for the stock.

Analysts Eye Huge Upside in Alibaba

Among this group, Wall Street analysts continue to show a high degree of confidence in Alibaba’s outlook. With shares down more than 20% in 2026, the MarketBeat consensus price target near $189 forecasts a rebound of more than 60%.

For Alibaba, a key watch item will be whether the company can improve its adjusted EBITDA margins over time. Last quarter, the figure fell to 10% versus 16% in the prior year. A rebound in this figure would indicate that its investments are beginning to meaningfully translate into greater operating profitability.

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