Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Alibaba (BABA) Increases Yet Falls Behind Market: What Investors Need to Know

Read MoreHide Full Article

The latest trading session saw Alibaba (BABA - Free Report) ending at $84.31, denoting a +0.35% adjustment from its last day's close. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.06%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.93%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 1.2%.

The online retailer's shares have seen a decrease of 3.5% over the last month, surpassing the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 6.3% and falling behind the S&P 500's loss of 3%.

Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Alibaba in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $2.16, signifying a 18.68% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $31.39 billion, indicating a 7.77% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $8.99 per share and a revenue of $133.21 billion, indicating changes of +13.22% and +5.68%, respectively, from the former year.

Furthermore, it would be beneficial for investors to monitor any recent shifts in analyst projections for Alibaba. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape 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.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.1% lower. Alibaba is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

Investors should also note Alibaba's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 9.35. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 19.2 of its industry.

The Internet - Commerce industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 92, this industry ranks in the top 37% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.

Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) - free report >>

Published in