Fundamentals snapshot
BABA · NYQ · Consumer Cyclical · Internet Retail
Current price
$121.27
52-week range
$103.71 - $192.67
Market cap
$290.94B
One-glance verdict
Fair-value range $228.82 – $459.67 (cautious → optimistic — tap the ? for the math)
Wall Street consensus: $191.72 (-37.6% lower than our fair-value estimate)
Buy below $245.92 for a 20% safety cushion
Balance sheet
Net cash $5.18B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
Quick scan of the biggest positives and negatives from the detailed checklist below.
What this company does
Alibaba is a giant Chinese technology company that makes most of its money from online shopping platforms, similar to Amazon, both within China and internationally. The company also runs a large cloud computing business (renting out its powerful computers and software to other companies) and a network of related services in shipping, maps, and groceries. This vast business ecosystem (a network of interconnected companies and services designed to work together) helps Alibaba serve customers in many different parts of their daily lives, encouraging them to stay within its network.
Alibaba was started in 1999 by Jack Ma and 17 friends in a small apartment in Hangzhou, China. Their idea was to create an online marketplace to help Chinese businesses sell their products to buyers around the world. The company grew rapidly, launching popular shopping sites like Taobao and Tmall for everyday consumers in China. A major turning point was its record-breaking $25 billion initial public offering (IPO), which is when a private company first sells shares of stock to the public, on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014. More recently, in 2023, the company announced a major restructuring to become more agile, splitting itself into six main business groups.
Think of Alibaba as a giant digital shopping mall that connects millions of businesses with shoppers, both in China and across the globe. Unlike many online stores, Alibaba doesn't own most of the products sold; instead, it provides the technology and platform for other sellers to reach customers. You might recognize some of its international shopping websites like AliExpress, where you can buy a huge variety of goods directly from Chinese sellers. Beyond e-commerce, the company also operates in cloud computing (providing online data storage and processing power for other businesses), digital payments, and even has a hand in logistics and entertainment.
This is the heart of Alibaba's business and its largest segment, focused entirely on online shopping within China. It includes Taobao, a massive marketplace where individuals and small businesses can sell to each other, similar to eBay. It also runs Tmall, a platform for larger, established brands to sell directly to consumers, like an online version of a high-end department store. This group makes money primarily from advertising and other services it sells to the merchants on its platforms.
This division handles Alibaba's e-commerce businesses outside of China. Its most well-known platform is AliExpress, which allows international consumers to buy directly from manufacturers and distributors in China. This segment also includes other popular online shopping sites in specific regions, such as Lazada in Southeast Asia and Trendyol in Turkey. This part of the company is focused on expanding Alibaba's shopping empire around the world and is a fast-growing slice of the business.
This is Alibaba's technology powerhouse, providing cloud computing services to other businesses. Think of it like renting out a massive, powerful computer and data storage system. Companies pay Alibaba to host their websites, store their data, and run their applications without needing to own the physical hardware themselves. This segment is a major player in the cloud industry, especially in Asia, and is a key area of investment and growth for the company.
This segment is a collection of Alibaba's other businesses that don't fit into the main e-commerce and cloud categories. It includes Cainiao, a logistics company that helps deliver the billions of packages ordered on Alibaba's sites. It also contains businesses like Amap, a popular digital map and navigation service in China, and Youku, an online video streaming platform similar to YouTube. This group shows how Alibaba has expanded beyond its core shopping business into many different areas of technology and daily life.
Alibaba's leadership is currently focused on two main areas: artificial intelligence (AI) and international expansion. The company is investing heavily in its Cloud Intelligence Group to develop its own advanced AI models and to provide AI-powered services to its business customers. At the same time, it is pushing to grow its e-commerce presence outside of China, particularly in Southeast Asia and Europe, to find new sources of growth. The recent major reorganization into separate business groups is part of a strategy to make each unit more nimble and competitive in its respective market.
Price history
Earnings history
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
Is it cheap or expensive?
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $191.72 (-37.6% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Buy below $245.92 for a 20% safety cushion. That means buying at least 20% below our fair value, as a buffer in case our estimate turns out too rosy.
Our most-likely fair value is $307.39 a share — about 153.5% above today's price of $121.27, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Net cash $5.2B - more cash than debt. Interest coverage 6.1x.
Alibaba Group Holding Limited's profit covers its interest bill about 6.1 times over.
Total debt $41.54B Interest coverage 6.09x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $235.54B Interest coverage 35.17x +477% vs BABA Carries about 5.8x more debt cushion than BABA.
Total debt $15.93B Interest coverage 1.32x -78% vs BABA Carries about 4.6x less debt cushion than BABA.
Total debt $59.79B Interest coverage 18.49x +203% vs BABA Carries about 3.0x more debt cushion than BABA.
Total debt $12.38B Interest coverage 20.01x +228% vs BABA Carries about 3.3x more debt cushion than BABA.
What you should know
The numbers
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
Profitability
Health
Growth
Cash flow
Dividend
Metric explainer
Debt comparison
What you should know