Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts remain broadly positive: Alibaba has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from 22 analysts, with an average 12-month price target of $188.70.
• The company’s latest quarter showed 8.6% year-over-year revenue growth to $39.64 billion, slightly exceeding estimates, but earnings per share of $1.26 missed consensus by $0.68.
• Alibaba faces mixed signals beyond analyst support: insiders sold shares primarily to cover tax obligations, while institutional investors increased several positions; meanwhile, spending concerns, legal risks and questions about instant-delivery profitability remain potential headwinds.

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-two research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fifteen have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $188.70.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BABA shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. Nomura cut their price objective on Alibaba Group from $207.00 to $178.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on Alibaba Group from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Thursday, August 20th.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

NYSE:BABA opened at $113.10 on Friday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $116.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.07. Alibaba Group has a 52 week low of $91.99 and a 52 week high of $192.67. The stock has a market cap of $271.09 billion, a PE ratio of 27.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 14th. The specialty retailer reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by ($0.68). The business had revenue of $39.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.52 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 4.79% and a net margin of 7.00%.The business's revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $14.75 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Alibaba Group will post 5.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Alibaba Group

In related news, General Counsel Siying Yu sold 6,772 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.10, for a total transaction of $81,941.20. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 607,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,347,531.40. This represents a 1.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Fang Jiang sold 4,898 shares of Alibaba Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.09, for a total transaction of $59,216.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,559,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $67,214,487.99. The trade was a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 920,303 shares of company stock worth $70,796,370. Company insiders own 12.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Alibaba Group by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,411 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 981 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alibaba Group during the first quarter valued at $254,000. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 313.0% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 21,778 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,470,000 after acquiring an additional 16,505 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the second quarter valued at $1,613,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 51.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 70,060 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $7,946,000 after acquiring an additional 23,925 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.47% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alibaba Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba is expanding its cloud footprint into Brazil, potentially strengthening its international cloud infrastructure, customer reach and long-term growth opportunities. Alibaba expands cloud footprint with Brazil region
• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba’s chief executive reportedly purchased shares as the stock struggled, a potential signal of management’s confidence in the company’s long-term value. 3 CEOs Are Buying Millions of Dollars of Their Beaten-Down Stocks
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping may bring a large business delegation to Washington later this month could support hopes for improved U.S.-China commercial relations, although the report remains speculative. Market Chatter: China's Xi Expected to Bring Large Business Delegation to US
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage highlights Alibaba’s competing growth opportunities—including artificial intelligence and cloud investment—and the risk that elevated spending could pressure returns. Top Analyst Reports for Amazon, AbbVie & Alibaba
• Negative Sentiment: Several law firms are promoting a securities-fraud class action covering investors who purchased Alibaba securities from June 26, 2025, through June 24, 2026. The complaints allege misleading disclosures involving the company’s affiliations, operating risks and alleged unauthorized AI-model distillation; the lead-plaintiff deadline is October 5, 2026. The litigation adds regulatory, legal-cost and reputational risks. BABA Shareholder Alert
• Negative Sentiment: Alibaba’s approximately $178 billion instant-delivery market is drawing scrutiny because investors still lack clear evidence that warehouse and delivery investments can generate sustainable profits after subsidies decline. Alibaba's $178 Billion One-Hour Market Still Lacks a Profit Scoreboard

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source