Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) is one of the AI Stocks Investors Are Watching Closely. On September 2, Benchmark analyst Fawne Jiang raised the price target on the stock to $195.00 (from $176.00) while maintaining a Buy rating.
Jiang noted how Alibaba missed its first-quarter fiscal 2026 headline consensus expectations due to partially-accounted for asset divestitures including SunArt and Intime, and increased investment in Quick Commerce, which pressured margins.
However, Alibaba’s cloud and ecommerce segments are gaining strength, with cloud delivering a solid beat and guidance pointing toward further acceleration. These aspects reinforce the company’s position as a leading GenAI and cloud infrastructure provider.
“BABA missed F1Q26 headline consensus, largely due to some revenue estimates that didn’t fully factor in asset divestitures (SunArt, Intime) and a sharp uptick in investment toward Quick Commerce, which pressured margins. However, we believe fundamentals are clearly strengthening across its cloud and e-commerce segments. Cloud delivered a solid beat with +26% y/y growth and guided to further acceleration, marking a notable upward revision and reinforcing BABA’s position as China’s leading GenAI and cloud infrastructure provider.”
“In e-commerce, while Quick Commerce impacted margins (~RMB10B in F1Q26, ~RMB50B for FY26), we view it as having strategic potential to be accretive, expanding long term GMV TAM (~RMB1TN guidance), driving user traffic, and supporting long-term ad revenue upside. As a result, we have raised our FY26/FY27 growth forecasts and see potential for market share gains. With these tailwinds, we also see room for multiple expansion and raise our price target to $195.”
Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) is an internet giant that offers e-commerce services in China and internationally.
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