Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Shares Down 1.4% – Should You Sell?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) shares were down 1.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $161.38 and last traded at $164.21. Approximately 8,720,154 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 37% from the average daily volume of 13,803,808 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.51.

Key Headlines Impacting Alibaba Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba rolled out RynnBrain, an open-source AI model aimed at giving robots better scene understanding and task ability — this expands Alibaba’s addressable market into “physical AI” and could accelerate cloud, edge and robotics services revenue if adopted. China’s Alibaba launches AI model to power robots as tech giants talk up ‘physical AI’
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and market write-ups are highlighting Alibaba as an attractive e‑commerce/tech buy amid secular opportunity in AI and cloud, supporting a constructive investor narrative if execution continues. Why is Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) One of the Best E-Commerce Stocks to Buy Now
• Neutral Sentiment: Competition for AI users is heating up — ByteDance and Tencent are offering incentives to onboard AI app users, which could raise user acquisition costs and slow margin improvement even as the market for AI services grows. ByteDance joins Alibaba, Tencent to offer freebies in bid to acquire AI app users
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary flags mixed signals from Alibaba’s cloud and retail businesses — cloud growth and retail margins will be key near-term drivers; mixed readings can keep sentiment choppy until clearer trends emerge. Looking At The Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE:BABA) Narrative After Mixed Cloud And Retail Signals
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage warns Alibaba’s AI push may test the gap between lofty AI expectations and real-world monetization — if RynnBrain’s adoption or timing disappoints, the valuation premium tied to AI narratives could compress. Alibaba’s New AI Push Tests Real World Usage And Valuation Gap

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BABA shares. Nomura upped their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $193.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $231.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Alibaba Group from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Macquarie Infrastructure reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $195.17.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $392.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $159.08 and a 200 day moving average of $154.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 203.5% in the fourth quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 637,808 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $93,490,000 after purchasing an additional 427,630 shares in the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 205.4% during the 4th quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 269,961 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $39,571,000 after purchasing an additional 181,578 shares in the last quarter. Accuvest Global Advisors boosted its stake in Alibaba Group by 289.5% in the 4th quarter. Accuvest Global Advisors now owns 8,354 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,225,000 after purchasing an additional 6,209 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its holdings in Alibaba Group by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 189,136 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $29,418,000 after buying an additional 54,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entelevest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $266,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

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.