Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) Stock Price

NetEase (NASDAQ:NTES) had its price objective cut by equities researchers at Barclays from $135.00 to $132.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 9.44% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $155.00 target price on NetEase in a report on Friday, November 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of NetEase in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of NetEase in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of NetEase from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 23rd. Finally, Benchmark raised their target price on shares of NetEase from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.67.

NetEase Price Performance

NASDAQ NTES opened at $120.61 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $134.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.05. NetEase has a 1 year low of $88.54 and a 1 year high of $159.55. The company has a market cap of $76.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.71.

Institutional Trading of NetEase

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ABN Amro Investment Solutions purchased a new stake in shares of NetEase during the second quarter worth approximately $2,056,000. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its stake in NetEase by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 6,296,150 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $956,952,000 after purchasing an additional 28,381 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Resource Group purchased a new stake in shares of NetEase during the second quarter worth $1,313,000. Renaissance Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NetEase in the third quarter valued at about $6,177,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in shares of NetEase by 326.4% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 55,635 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,487,000 after buying an additional 42,587 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.07% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting NetEase

Here are the key news stories impacting NetEase this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Big dividend hike: NetEase declared a quarterly dividend of $1.16 (record date Mar 16, pay Mar 27), a 103.5% increase from the prior payout and ~3.9% yield — an income boost that can attract yield-seeking investors and support the share price. Zacks: Q4 Earnings & Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Broker and analyst commentary noting the Q4 weakness may be one-off and highlighting upside potential — these narratives can limit downside and attract buying from longer‑term/contrarian investors. Seeking Alpha: Q4 Underperformance Is A One-Off Seeking Alpha: Upside Brewing
• Neutral Sentiment: Underlying revenue growth and strategic pushes (game slate, AI initiatives, rising cash) cited in earnings commentary — these are constructive for medium-term fundamentals but haven’t yet offset margin/earnings headwinds. Yahoo Finance: Q4 Highlights
• Neutral Sentiment: Nomura trimmed its price target to $155 (from $160) but kept a Buy rating — a modestly negative tweak in PT but still signals conviction in upside, so the net effect is neutral-to-slightly supportive. MarketScreener: Nomura PT
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 profit miss and weaker margins: NetEase reported a significant drop in Q4 profit (reported as ~24–30% decline across coverage) and missed some estimates, which triggered selling pressure after the print. Yicai Global: Stock Falls After Profit Decline
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays cut its price target to $132 and moved to an Equal Weight rating — another analyst downgrade that can weigh on sentiment and limit near-term upside. The Fly / Benzinga: Barclays PT Cut

About NetEase

NetEase, Inc (NASDAQ: NTES) is a Chinese technology company headquartered in Hangzhou that develops and operates Internet services and products. Founded in 1997 by William Ding (Ding Lei), the company has grown from an early web portal and e-mail provider into a diversified online services group. William Ding has served as the company’s founder and long-time leader, guiding its expansion into games, digital content and consumer services.

The company’s primary business is interactive entertainment: NetEase Games designs, develops and publishes PC and mobile games for domestic and international audiences, offering a mix of self-developed franchises and titles published under licensing and strategic partnerships.