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Alibaba Shares Are Hot This Week; Here's Why

BABA, PYPL | September 22, 2016

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA) have been on fire recently, up 7 percent in the last two trading sessions. Sentiment surrounding the Chinese e-commerce giant is overwhelmingly bullish, with analysts seeing several opportunities for growth in the future.

UBS and Stifel both raised their price targets on the stock, with UBS boosting its target on Alibaba to $124 from $107 and Stifel upping its target to $125 from $104. Both firms reiterated Buy ratings on the company.

It appears Alibaba's capital allocation strategy shift to cloud and media is paying off.

Alisports saw 3.8 billion live views during the Rio Olympics. Alipay's expansion beyond China into Egypt, Europe and India to serve Chinese tourists is also a key move, according to Brean Capital analyst Fawne Jiang, who has a Buy rating on the stock.

"Third-quarter earnings and a building buzz ahead of BABA affiliate Ant Financial's expected IPO — think of a Chinese version of Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL) — are potential catalysts over the medium term," MKM Partners' Jim Strugger noted.

UBS sees potential for brand advertising monetization and e-commerce rates increasing with continued mobile adoption as catalysts for the raised target.

Stifel also sees greater mobile monetization and believes its current investments will raise its operating leverage.

At time of writing, shortly before Thursday's regular market close, Alibaba was up 3.08 percent on the day at $109.27.

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