Robert W. Baird Cuts Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) Price Target to $164.00

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

BABA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Macquarie Infrastructure restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Alibaba Group from $240.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $188.95.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

BABA stock opened at $122.41 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.61. Alibaba Group has a 52 week low of $95.73 and a 52 week high of $192.67. The stock has a market cap of $292.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 101.4% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 143 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Alibaba Group during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new position in Alibaba Group during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. NBT Bank N A NY lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 231.5% in the third quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 179 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Alibaba Group News Roundup

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.