What Analysts Are Saying After Alibaba Reported Earnings

When Alibaba reported its fiscal first-quarter financial results on Thursday, it showed continued growth for the company. As a result, analysts rushed to make calls on the stock afterward.

Published August 12, 2016, 11:20am ET · 2 min read

© courtesy of Alibaba Group

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) reported its fiscal first-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Thursday. Ultimately, this report showed continued growth for the company, and coupled with the past six months of performance, Alibaba is up over 50%. As a result, analysts rushed to make calls on the stock following the report.

24/7 Wall St. has included some of the key highlights from the earnings report, as well as what analysts are saying afterward.

The company said that it had $0.74 in earnings per share (EPS) on $4.84 billion in revenue for the quarter. Consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters had called for $0.63 in EPS on revenue of $4.54 billion. According to Alibaba, the same period of last year had EPS of $0.56 and $3.04 billion in revenue.

Mobile monthly active users (MAUs) in June reached 427 million, an increase of 17 million over March 2016, while annual active buyers on Chinese retail marketplaces increased to 434 million, a net addition of 11 million annual active buyers from the prior quarter.

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Gross merchandise value (GMV) transacted on Chinese retail marketplaces was $126 billion, an increase of $25 billion, or 24%, from last year, with mobile GMV accounting for 75% of total GMV.

The cloud computing business continued its rapid expansion, with revenue in this quarter increasing 156% from last year to $187 million.

After earnings were released, analysts poured into this Chinese giant:

  • RBC Capital Markets has an Outperform rating and raised its price target to $110 from $105.
  • SunTrust has a Buy rating.
  • JPMorgan has an Overweight rating.
  • Jefferies has a Buy rating with a $103 price target.
  • Deutsche Bank has a Buy rating with a $115 price target.
  • Credit Suisse has an Outperform rating with a with a $122 price target.
  • Brean Capital has a Buy rating and raised its price target to $115.
  • Raymond James has a Strong Buy rating with a $124 price target.
  • Goldman Sachs has a Buy rating with a $120 price target.
  • Macquarie has an Outperform rating with a $110 price target.
  • Evercore ISI has a $110 price target.

Shares of Alibaba were trading up over 3% to $94.87 on Friday, with a consensus analyst price target of $99.29 and a 52-week trading range of $57.20 to $95.00.

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Chris Lange

Chris Lange is a financial and geopolitical writer with more than a decade of experience covering a myriad of topics. He has published thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St., with past coverage focused heavily on stocks, IPOs, healthcare, defense, global affairs, and technology.

His work has been quoted, or referenced by a number of outlets including Business Insider, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN, The Motley Fool, and many other publications. A graduate of Southwestern University, he studied business with a focus on investments and has previous experience in banking and startups.

When not reading or writing the news, he is following his passion for Lacrosse, playing chess, or building solar projects with his dad.

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