Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Stock Price Down 2.7% – Here’s What Happened

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) dropped 2.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $143.33 and last traded at $144.0820. Approximately 9,730,720 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 21% from the average daily volume of 12,303,512 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.05.

Key Headlines Impacting Alibaba Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba Cloud deployed tech for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics, highlighting enterprise demand and a sustainability/efficiency story that supports cloud revenue growth. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary notes Alibaba’s AI push (Qwen 3.5) and positioning as an Asian cloud/AI infrastructure player; that narrative is a key medium-term catalyst ahead of the March 5 fiscal Q3 earnings report. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/retail attention is rising — Benzinga and Zacks flagged Alibaba among oversold/monitored consumer/tech names, indicating potential buying interest if earnings or AI/cloud execution surprises to the upside. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Alibaba introduced bundled pricing for multiple AI models under one plan — a competitive move that may boost adoption but could pressure near-term pricing/ARPU; impact depends on uptake and margin mix. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent analyst pieces reassessing valuation note an 11% one‑month slide and attractive longer‑term multiples (P/E ~20), making BABA a value/earnings play but keeping focus on near‑term execution. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Political/legal uncertainty is still driving volatility: the Supreme Court ruling removed the worst‑case IEEPA tariff risk but headlines about a possible “Plan B” (e.g., a 15% global tariff) have triggered a whipsaw — investors appear to be trimming positions into earnings, driving today’s weakness.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BABA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Alibaba Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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. Freedom Capital cut Alibaba Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Arete Research upgraded Alibaba Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.17.

Alibaba Group Trading Down 2.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.46. The stock has a market cap of $343.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $159.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $157.12.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 25th. The specialty retailer reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.05). Alibaba Group had a net margin of 12.38% and a return on equity of 10.51%. The company had revenue of $34.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 7.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Banque Transatlantique SA lifted its stake in Alibaba Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 20,615 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,022,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc. now owns 3,295 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. MidFirst Bank purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $418,000. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 7,785 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,141,000 after buying an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,807,000. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.