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Alibaba (BABA) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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Alibaba (BABA - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $174.19, moving +0.4% from the previous trading session. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.34%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.09%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.43%.

Heading into today, shares of the online retailer had gained 8.5% over the past month, outpacing the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 5.97% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.46% in that time.

BABA will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.51, up 23.77% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $16.52 billion, up 35.13% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $6.70 per share and revenue of $74.48 billion. These totals would mark changes of +17.13% and +33.92%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for BABA should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. BABA is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, BABA is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 25.89. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 27.98, so we one might conclude that BABA is trading at a discount comparatively.

Meanwhile, BABA's PEG ratio is currently 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. Internet - Commerce stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.83 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Internet - Commerce industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 54, which puts it in the top 22% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. 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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