Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Given New $164.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) had its target price decreased by Robert W. Baird from $174.00 to $164.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the specialty retailer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on BABA. Nomura upped their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $193.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Alibaba Group from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays upped their price target on Alibaba Group from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Alibaba Group from $225.00 to $212.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $188.95.

Alibaba Group Trading Down 2.0%

NYSE:BABA opened at $122.41 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $292.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a fifty day moving average of $154.00 and a 200 day moving average of $158.32. Alibaba Group has a 52 week low of $95.73 and a 52 week high of $192.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new position in Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter worth $3,104,000. World Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 10,799 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,583,000 after buying an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. PeakShares LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the 4th quarter valued at $220,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter worth about $903,000. Finally, Sankala Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alibaba Group in the 4th quarter worth about $86,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Alibaba Group

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

• Positive Sentiment: Cloud & AI traction: Alibaba’s Cloud Intelligence Group grew ~36% YoY, Qwen adoption is strong (large Hugging Face downloads and derivative models) and management set an ambition for ~$100B in combined cloud/AI external revenue over five years — a clear long‑term growth catalyst. Alibaba Stock Is Getting Hit Again, but Qwen and Cloud Growth Are Surging
• Positive Sentiment: Balance sheet strength: Alibaba reported material cash reserves (~$80B) and a relatively low debt load, giving it financial flexibility to continue AI and commerce investments while it pursues longer‑term monetization. Alibaba Stock Is Getting Hit Again, but Qwen and Cloud Growth Are Surging
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst actions mixed: Several firms trimmed price targets (JPMorgan, Mizuho, Barclays, Baird, Jefferies adjusted targets) but many maintain buy/overweight views, leaving a wide range of expectations and continued analyst support under the share price. Analyst Price Target Coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Restructuring / workforce changes: Alibaba reported a ~34% year‑over‑year headcount decline (largely from asset sales and restructuring). This both reduces costs long term and signals near‑term business shifts — watched by investors for execution risk and savings timing. Alibaba workforce shrinks 34% in 2025 as Chinese tech giant doubles down on AI
• Negative Sentiment: Earnings and profit miss: December‑quarter revenue slightly missed expectations and adjusted EPS plunged (~66–67% YoY) as heavy investments in quick commerce, user experience and AI compressed margins and cash flow — the main immediate trigger for the stock’s decline. Alibaba Targets $100 Billion of AI Revenue in Five Years
• Negative Sentiment: Investor skepticism on AI monetization: Markets pulled back — alongside Tencent — amid questions about near‑term paths to monetize AI investments, producing sectorwide mark‑downs that hit Alibaba hard. Alibaba, Tencent Lose $66 Billion as AI Monetization Questions Rise
• Negative Sentiment: Legal/overhang risk: Multiple shareholder law firms have opened securities‑fraud inquiries following the earnings shock, creating an added litigation overhang that can weigh on sentiment. Securities Fraud Investigation Into Alibaba Continues

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.