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Alibaba (BABA) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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Alibaba (BABA - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $156, moving +0.75% from the previous trading session. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.76%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.67%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.71%.

Coming into today, shares of the online retailer had gained 12.91% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector gained 2.28%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.75%.

BABA will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be January 30, 2019. On that day, BABA is projected to report earnings of $1.64 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 0.61%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $17.26 billion, up 35.24% from the year-ago period.

BABA's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $5.18 per share and revenue of $55.04 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -1.15% and +43.63%, respectively.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for BABA. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. BABA is holding a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now.

Looking at its valuation, BABA is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 29.88. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 30.48.

Also, we should mention that BABA has a PEG ratio of 0.96. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. BABA's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.99 as of yesterday's close.

The Internet - Commerce industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 110, putting it in the top 43% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow BABA in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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