Nomura Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Stock Price

Key Points

• Nomura cut its price target on Alibaba from $207 to $178 while keeping a buy rating, implying significant upside from the prior close despite a more cautious view.
• Other analysts remain broadly constructive: the consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $187.38, though some firms have recently trimmed or raised targets individually.
• Alibaba’s stock has been under pressure, trading near its 12-month low and below key moving averages, while recent headlines around AI-related allegations and U.S. scrutiny have added to investor concerns.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by equities research analysts at Nomura from $207.00 to $178.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the specialty retailer's stock. Nomura's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 84.52% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $172.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. DZ Bank cut shares of Alibaba Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $135.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Mizuho raised their target price on Alibaba Group from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on Alibaba Group from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $187.38.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

Shares of BABA opened at $96.47 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The firm's 50 day moving average is $127.23 and its 200-day moving average is $140.87. Alibaba Group has a 12-month low of $97.42 and a 12-month high of $192.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $231.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.47.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The specialty retailer reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $35.30 billion for the quarter. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 4.76% and a net margin of 10.31%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group will post 6.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BABA. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 16,420 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,407,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 101.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 143 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Alibaba Group by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 426 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. TrueWealth Financial Partners lifted its stake in Alibaba Group by 1.7% during the third quarter. TrueWealth Financial Partners now owns 4,361 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Cypress Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 1,418 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $208,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 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:

• Negative Sentiment: Anthropic accused Alibaba and its AI unit of running a large-scale effort to extract Claude model capabilities, alleging the “largest known distillation attack” and prompting concern over legal, regulatory, and reputational risk. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Reports say Alibaba shares fell to a 16-month low after the Anthropic allegations, as investors worried the controversy could complicate its AI ambitions and increase scrutiny from U.S. authorities. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Alibaba sued the Pentagon over its blacklisting as a Chinese military-linked company, arguing the designation has no factual or legal basis; while this could help if successful, it also highlights ongoing U.S.-China geopolitical and contract-access risk. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Alibaba also continued to push its AI product strategy, including lower-cost Qwen offerings and new model releases, but those developments were overshadowed by the controversy. SCMP article

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.

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