Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading Down 3.1% – Here’s What Happened

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) fell 3.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $163.50 and last traded at $165.63. 18,347,652 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 6% from the average session volume of 17,369,430 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.93.

Alibaba Group News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Major Qwen upgrade: Alibaba has rolled out a unified, agentic Qwen AI experience across its ecosystem (Taobao, Alipay, travel apps), enabling in-chat shopping, payments, food orders and travel bookings — a step that could accelerate user engagement and new monetization paths. Alibaba Qwen Upgrade: The Market Can No Longer Ignore This AI Catalyst
• Positive Sentiment: Agentic & payments features now live for public testing in China — Qwen can place orders, complete in-chat payments and book travel, increasing direct commerce conversion through AI. This operational progress makes near-term monetization more plausible. Alibaba Adds Agentic and Payments Capabilities to Consumer AI App
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street warming to the AI story — several analysts and research notes show growing confidence that Alibaba’s AI/cloud push could be the next growth leg, supporting higher longer-term targets. Why Wall Street Is Turning More Confident on Alibaba’s AI Push
• Neutral Sentiment: Ecosystem integration breadth — multiple outlets note Qwen’s connections to Taobao, Alipay and travel apps and reported user milestones, which are strategically important but will take time to translate into revenue. China’s Alibaba Links Qwen AI App to Vast Consumer Ecosystem
• Neutral Sentiment: Deal/tech exposure: reports that Alibaba and JPMorgan are cornerstones in a chip-designer listing highlight strategic moves into semiconductors but are peripheral to core revenue drivers. Montage Technology Draws Alibaba, JPMorgan as Cornerstones for Hong Kong Listing
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target trim: Nomura lowered its price target (from $215 to $193) while keeping a buy rating — a modest re-pricing that signals caution on near-term upside despite bullish AI narratives. Nomura Adjusts Alibaba Group Price Target to $193 From $215; Maintains Buy Rating
• Negative Sentiment: Profit-taking and core-ecommerce concerns: social and trade commentary note a multimonth pullback and worries about e‑commerce monetization, which likely drove the intraday decline as some investors locked gains after the AI headlines. Why This Trader Sees A Timing Opportunity In Alibaba Stock

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BABA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Freedom Capital downgraded Alibaba Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Alibaba Group from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $231.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Mizuho set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alibaba Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.68.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $156.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $395.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.37.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 1,349,768.3% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 49,013,718 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,558,646,000 after buying an additional 49,010,087 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 1,074.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,038,318 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,079,229,000 after acquiring an additional 5,524,354 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the 2nd quarter worth $527,243,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Alibaba Group during the second quarter valued at about $227,567,000. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Alibaba Group during the second quarter valued at about $184,291,000. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by 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.