Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Shares Up 1% – Still a Buy?

Posted by George Bondi on Aug 20th, 2026

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA – Get Free Report)’s stock price shot up 1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $130.62 and last traded at $130.25. Approximately 27,813,162 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 132% from the average session volume of 11,970,994 shares. The stock had previously closed at $128.90.

Key Alibaba Group News

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

Positive Sentiment: Alibaba’s cloud-computing revenue increased 45% year over year, driven by demand for AI training and inference services. Management said the company is well positioned for the AI boom, supporting the long-term growth case for its cloud business. Alibaba cloud revenue rises 45% even as AI spending weighs on profit
Positive Sentiment: Quarterly revenue rose approximately 9%, helped by AI services, cloud demand and improved performance during the “618” shopping festival. Quick-commerce growth was also identified as a potential catalyst for e-commerce orders and platform engagement. Alibaba reports 9% rise in quarterly revenue
Positive Sentiment: The sale of Alibaba’s Lingxi Games stake, reportedly for more than $2 billion, reinforces its strategy of divesting noncore assets and directing capital toward AI infrastructure and applications. Alibaba cashes out of gaming to double down on AI
Neutral Sentiment: Investors bought about 176,638 call options, roughly 14% above typical daily call volume. This suggests bullish speculative positioning but is not a fundamental indicator of value.
Negative Sentiment: Net income plunged about 75% to 10.54 billion yuan, while adjusted earnings missed estimates by a wide margin. Heavy spending on AI infrastructure, proprietary models and applications sharply pressured margins and raised concerns about the timing and scale of returns. Alibaba profit dives 75% after AI spending hits $10 billion
Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms are promoting a securities class action covering investors who purchased BABA securities between June 26, 2025 and June 24, 2026. The allegations involve AI disclosures and U.S. regulatory classification, adding legal and reputational risk; the lead-plaintiff deadline is October 5, 2026. Rosen Alibaba securities class action notice

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BABA. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Alibaba Group from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $186.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.90.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Alibaba Group

Alibaba Group Trading Up 1.0%

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $113.43 and a 200-day moving average of $128.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $312.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.49.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Hong Xu sold 175,054 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.15, for a total transaction of $2,126,906.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 280,496 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,408,026.40. The trade was a 38.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, President J. Michael Evans sold 720,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.95, for a total value of $68,364,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 28,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,658,600. This represents a 96.26% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 920,303 shares of company stock valued at $70,796,370. 12.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BABA. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 2.9% in the second quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 20,802 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,997,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the period. QV Investors Inc. grew its holdings in Alibaba Group by 53.8% during the 2nd quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 74,347 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,136,000 after purchasing an additional 26,000 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its stake in Alibaba Group by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 17,303 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,661,000 after buying an additional 1,103 shares during the period. S&G Foundation purchased a new stake in Alibaba Group during the 2nd quarter worth $77,000. Finally, Serenity Capital Management PTE. LTD. acquired a new position in Alibaba Group in the 2nd quarter worth $6,718,600,000. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alibaba Group Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.