Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Trading Down 1.3% – Here’s What Happened

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s stock price fell 1.3% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $123.54 and last traded at $126.1410. 11,408,997 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 4% from the average session volume of 11,854,480 shares. The stock had previously closed at $127.76.

Trending Headlines about Alibaba Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: Alibaba’s ecosystem is showing continued progress in AI and digital infrastructure, including reports that its Qwen model beat OpenAI and Google rivals in a coding ranking, and that the company is pushing new AI agent and embodied-AI initiatives. These headlines support the view that Alibaba is becoming a more credible AI platform play. Alibaba’s Qwen Beats OpenAI, Google in AI Coding Rank
• Positive Sentiment: Ant Group, Alibaba’s affiliate, is expanding blockchain-based lending tools and showcasing smart city and digital finance applications in Macau, highlighting additional growth avenues across fintech and cloud services. Exclusive: Ant Group-backed R25 launches emerging-market consumer credit vault
• Neutral Sentiment: Broker coverage remains constructive, with Alibaba reportedly holding a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating, which can help support sentiment but does not by itself change the investment thesis. Alibaba Group Holding Limited Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks articles note that BABA is trending with investors, suggesting elevated attention ahead of potential catalysts, though the coverage is more observational than fundamental. Here is What to Know Beyond Why Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) is a Trending Stock
• Negative Sentiment: Some commentary says Alibaba is underperforming despite the broader AI boom, with investors concerned about costly cloud spending and margin pressure versus peers like Meta. That can weigh on the stock if sentiment shifts back toward profitability over growth. BABA vs. META: Which AI Data Center Giant Is the Better Bet?
• Negative Sentiment: One market note also highlighted that Alibaba shares have lagged other major Chinese tech names this year, reflecting ongoing skepticism around Chinese internet stocks despite AI enthusiasm. Here’s why Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi stocks are falling amid the AI boom

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BABA. Erste Group Bank downgraded Alibaba Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Argus raised Alibaba Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Alibaba Group from $174.00 to $164.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen raised Alibaba Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, DZ Bank downgraded Alibaba Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, March 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $188.76.

Alibaba Group Trading Down 1.5%

The company has a market cap of $298.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.50. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $130.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.52.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The specialty retailer reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $35.30 billion during the quarter. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 4.76% and a net margin of 10.31%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alibaba Group Holding Limited will post 6.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alibaba Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 11th will be issued a dividend of $1.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 11th. This represents a yield of 72.0%. Alibaba Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BABA. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 7,680.3% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 6,014,147 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $881,554,000 after purchasing an additional 5,936,847 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 1,074.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,038,318 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,079,229,000 after purchasing an additional 5,524,354 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Alibaba Group during the 4th quarter valued at $594,477,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in Alibaba Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $290,208,000. Finally, Trivest Advisors Ltd acquired a new stake in Alibaba Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $202,126,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.