What's Going On With Alibaba Stock Thursday?

Benzinga
2025.08.28 15:05
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Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) shares are under scrutiny ahead of its quarterly results, driven by AI ambitions and cloud growth amid concerns over China's market risks. The stock has risen over 44% this year due to strong earnings and AI-driven expansion, but has recently slipped alongside other U.S.-listed Chinese equities. Analysts anticipate the upcoming earnings report will be crucial for understanding Alibaba's AI monetization strategy. Currently, BABA stock is down 3.05% to $118.55.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. BABA shares are in focus ahead of the company’s quarterly results, as investors weigh its AI ambitions, cloud growth, and lingering concerns over China’s market risks.

The stock has gained over 44% year-to-date due to strong earnings and revenue growth, AI-driven cloud expansion, global e-commerce growth, and a discounted valuation.

At the same time, Alibaba has accelerated its artificial intelligence push, updating its open-source video-generating model to better compete with both domestic and U.S. rivals.

Also Read: Alibaba Unites Its Empire To Fight Back Against Meituan

Bloomberg reported this week that Alibaba’s new Wan2.2-S2V model can transform portrait photos into “film-quality avatars” capable of speaking, singing, and performing.

The move underscores the company’s efforts to double down on AI following the rapid global rise of DeepSeek. However, competition is intensifying, with Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL GOOGL Google, Manus, and Kuaishou all releasing rival video-generation tools.

Despite its gains this year, Alibaba’s stock has slipped since Wednesday alongside other U.S.-listed Chinese equities, as investors remain wary of a repeat of China’s 2015 stock bubble, when speculative rallies and rising leverage outpaced weak economic fundamentals.

Analysts say the upcoming earnings report, due Friday, will be critical in showing how Alibaba intends to monetize its AI rollout amid slowing growth and stiff e-commerce competition.

According to LSEG data, cloud revenue is projected to have risen 4.3% sequentially to 31.4 billion yuan ($4.4 billion) in the second quarter, up 18% year-over-year but showing signs of deceleration.

The company also cut prices for its Qwen-Long API by as much as 97%, highlighting the pressure of China’s escalating AI price war as tech firms pivot toward enterprise clients in a sluggish consumer environment.

Adding to investor caution, Bridgewater Associates recently exited its holdings in Alibaba and other U.S.-listed Chinese firms, a move viewed as a strategic shift under CEO Nir Bar Dea and a reflection of heightened regulatory and geopolitical risks tied to China.

Price Action: BABA stock is trading lower by 3.05% to $118.55 at last check Thursday.

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