Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA posted a top- and bottom-line beat for its Q2, driven by strong user growth and healthy monetization, on Wednesday morning. Following the announcement, Cantor Fitzgerald analysts Youssef Squali, Naved Khan and Kip Paulson reiterated a Buy rating on the stock, while raising their price target from $100 to $115 (FY18) arguing that the trend “is sustainable into the seasonally strong F3Q17, powered by growing merchant spending, greater mobile adoption, platform tweaks and rising consumer engagement (including 11.11).”
The firm’s report provided four reasons to remain bullish on Alibaba:
- The company’s leading position as “a cost effective platform to reach Chinese consumers.”
- The competitive advantages that its ecosystem and expanding moat provide.
- Its strength in the cloud segment.
- An attractive sum of the parts valuation, “anchored in the potential for upside from its Ant Financial stake.”
Having said this, the experts added that the on-going SEC inquiry into the company’s accounting practices is likely to cap investor enthusiasm until the issue is resolved.
Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no interest in any of the securities or entities mentioned above.
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