Morgan Stanley Lowers Alibaba's Stock Price Target Despite Maintaining Overweight Rating
Morgan Stanley analyst Gary Yu reduced his price target for Alibaba Group (BABA) to $180 from $190, a cut of about 5%. The new target is still around 60% higher than the stock's closing price on July 24 at $112.14. Despite this reduction, Morgan Stanley continues to maintain an overweight rating for Alibaba and considers it a top pick ahead of its late-August earnings report. The move follows similar adjustments by other banks like HSBC and Daiwa, which also lowered their price targets in July due to weak sales during China's 618 shopping festival. Yu highlighted Alibaba’s cloud infrastructure as a key growth area amid the AI evolution in China and noted strong cash generation, dividends, and buybacks as positives. However, recent challenges include an EU fine of €550 million against AliExpress for violating digital service regulations. Despite these issues, BABA shares have risen about 18% over the past month but remain below their 52-week high.
Topics: Alibaba analyst rating Morgan Stanley stock price target