What's Going On With Alibaba Stock Thursday?

Alibaba Group Holding Limited BABA stock is trading higher on Thursday. At the same time, Chinese indexes IShares China Large-Cap ETF FXI, IShares MSCI China ETF MCHI, and KraneShares Trust KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF KWEB exhibited mixed performance.

China's markets remained wary ahead of important economic indicators on Friday.

Meanwhile, Daniel Zhang's abrupt departure as the head of Alibaba's prominent cloud division marks a notable development, suggesting that Jack Ma still wields considerable influence over the Chinese technology behemoth he co-founded and guided for over two decades, the Financial Times reports.

Zhang took the helm of Alibaba Group in 2015 and succeeded Ma as chairman in 2019, a transition amid heightened scrutiny from Chinese authorities.

Earlier this year, he relinquished these roles to two long-standing confidantes of Ma. Zhang's resignation from the cloud division signifies the end of his era at the company.

Concurrently, the return of another trusted Ma associate, Wang Jian, adds a layer to this narrative. 

Wang Jian, who co-founded Alibaba Cloud and departed from the unit a decade ago, has now rejoined as a cloud division's board of directors member.

Industry analysts interpret Zhang's departure as an indicator that Alibaba's restructuring efforts, initiated in March, may have failed to meet initial expectations.

Price Action: BABA shares traded higher by 1.34% at $88.81 premarket on the last check Thursday.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.