If You Invested $1,000 In Alibaba Stock At Its COVID-19 Pandemic Low, Here's How Much You'd Have Now

Investors who bought stocks during the COVID-19 market crash in 2020 have generally experienced some big gains in the past two years. But there is no question some big-name stocks performed better than others since the pandemic bottom.

Alibaba's Bumpy Ride: One company that has been a horrendous investment in the past two years has been Chinese e-commerce and cloud services leader Alibaba Group Holding Ltd - ADR BABA.

Fortunately for Alibaba investors, the COVID-19 pandemic actually boosted demand for Alibaba’s e-commerce, cloud services and various other online businesses and services.

At the beginning of 2020, Alibaba shares were trading at around $217. By the beginning of March, the stock was down to $208.59 as China had already gotten slammed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Alibaba ultimately bottomed at $169.95 during the pandemic-driven March sell-off in the U.S. market.

By mid-April, Alibaba shares were back above $200 and by July they climbed to all-time highs above $230. Alibaba ultimately made it as high as $319.32 in late October.

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Unfortunately, while the rest of the market was making new highs in late 2020 and early 2021, Alibaba took a huge hit from Chinese and U.S. regulators.

First, Alibaba shares were slammed by a crackdown from the Chinese Communist Party after Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma criticized regulators for having a “pawn shop mentality” when it comes to banking. Chinese regulators subsequently suspended the IPO of Alibaba affiliate Ant Group and initiated an antitrust crackdown on all Chinese big tech companies.

Alibaba In 2022, Beyond: At the same time, Alibaba has faced regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. after the Senate passed the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act that could potentially delist Chinese stocks from trading in the U.S. within a matter of years if they fail to meet strict accounting standards and prove they are not controlled by a foreign government.

After being targeted by both Chinese and U.S. government regulators, Alibaba's share price has been driven all the way back down to $84.18.

Investors who bought Alibaba on the day it hit its 2020 pandemic low and held on have lost a significant portion of their investment. In fact, $1,000 in Alibaba stock bought on March 23, 2020, would be worth about $478 today.

Looking ahead, analysts are expecting Alibaba's stock to rebound significantly in the next 12 months. The average price target among the 48 analysts covering the stock is $153.63, suggesting 82.6% upside from current levels.