Alibaba (BABA)/ 9988 HK; Jack Ma 03 (May 21 - Jun 25)

[winston]

vested

Alibaba Group (9988 HK)
4QFY24: Rewarding Dividend Payout; Reigniting Cloud Revenue Growth In 2H24

Alibaba delivered in-line 4QFY24 results.

Revenue grew 7% yoy to Rmb221.9b, in line with street estimates.

Non-GAAP net profit was Rmb24.4b, down 11% yoy and is 7% below street estimates, with net margin of 11%.

In FY24, Alibaba has approved the two part dividend of US1.66 per ADS, representing an aggregate of US$4b and 18% dividend payout ratio.

We remain optimistic on the double-digit revenue growth target for the cloud business in 2H24. Maintain BUY. Target price: HK$98.00 (US$98.00).

Source: UOBKH

https://research.uobkayhian.com/content ... e=hs_email

[winston]

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<Research>G Sachs Raises BABA-SW (09988.HK) TP to $103 as Growth Resumes

BABA-SW (09988.HK) (BABA.US) returned to growth with solid performance in FY2024, Goldman Sachs released a research report saying.

Its business structure reform panned out, with its Taobao Tmall Group recording double-digit GMV growth in 4FQ24, and its CMR growing by 5%, which are both better than the market's expectations.

Goldman Sachs still expected that the shareholder return policies and the upcoming completion of the conversion to dual-primary listing will provide downside protection for BABA-SW's share price, while the CMR growth driven by the upgraded advertising technology tools will stabilize the earnings performance in 2HFY2025.

The expected resumption of revenue growth will provide huge room for valuation repair.

Goldman Sachs slightly raised its target price from $102 to $103 accordingly, and kept rating at Buy.

Source: AAStocks Financial News

http://www.aastocks.com/en/stocks/news/ ... -news/AAFN

[winston]

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Broker│Opinion

CLSA│Double-digit e-commerce GMV growth surprising, cloud revenue expected to resume double-digit growth in 1H25

CMBI│Shareholders' return increased

Citi│GMV expected to maintain healthy recovery in FY25, cloud revenue to return to double-digit growth in 2FH25

Huatai Securities│E-commerce business growth improved with higher shareholder returns, AI to help cloud business resume growth

HSBC Global Research│GMV outlook improved, but monetisation takes time

Jefferies│Total revenue growth in line

CICC│Taobap Tmall Group's investment-for-growth strategy started to take effect, AI to help cloud computing emerge from correction

CCBI│Mixed results, revenue growth expected to accelerate in 2H25

Goldman Sachs│Quarterly results in line as GMV growth beat and shareholders' return continued to grow

CITIC Securities│Returned to growth in core business, expected to complete dual primary listing in August

UBS│Quarterly results in line

Daiwa│Continued investment in Taobao Tmall and international business to increase market share

JPMorgan│Taobao Tmall GMV growth beat, raised 2025 revenue forecast by 2% but cut net profit forecast by 6%

Haitong International│EBITA margins expected to rebound in 2FH25

Nomura│Faster growth expected in 2H25 with attractive return on capital

Morgan Stanley│Lack of visibility on earnings growth, investors should be more patient

Source: AAStocks Financial News

http://www.aastocks.com/en/stocks/news/ ... -news/AAFN

[winston]

vested

BABA-SW (09988.HK) Proposes CB Offering, Raising Up to US$5B for Buybacks

BABA-SW (09988.HK) announced that it proposed to offer privately US$4.5 billion in aggregate principal of 0.5% Convertible Senior Notes due 2031.

The Company also granted the initial purchasers in the Notes Offering an option to purchase up to an additional US$500 million aggregate principal amount of the Notes.

The Notes Offering is expected to close on 29 May 2024.

BABA estimated that the net proceeds from the Notes Offering will be approximately US$4.436 billion (or US$4.93 billion if the initial purchasers’ option is exercised in full), after deducting the initial purchasers’ discounts and estimated expenses payable by the Company.

BABA intends to use the net proceeds from the Notes Offering to repurchase about 14.8 million of its American depositary shares (ADSs), each currently representing 8 ordinary shares, at a price per ADS equal to US$80.8, the last reported sale price per ADS on the NYSE on 23 May 2024.

The Company also intends to use the proceeds to fund further share repurchases from time to time, and fund the US$574 million cost of entering into the capped call transactions to reduce potential dilution to the ADSs and the ordinary shares.

The Notes will mature on 1 June 2031. The Notes will bear interest at a rate of 0.5% per year, payable in arrears on 1 June and 1 December of each year, beginning on 1 December 2024.

The initial conversion rate for the Notes will be 9.5202 ADSs per US$1,000 principal amount of the Notes, which is equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately US$105.04 per ADS.

The initial conversion price represents a premium of approx. 30% over the last reported sale price of US$80.8 per ADS on the NYSE on 23 May 2024.

Source: AAStocks Financial News

http://www.aastocks.com/en/stocks/analy ... stock-news

[behappyalways]

Where's The Demand? Alibaba Slashes AI Pricing By Up To 97%, Igniting Discount War Across China
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/ai ... scount-war

[behappyalways]

"#Alibaba is raising $5B from issuing convertible bonds, calling into question the Chinese e-commerce group’s ability to tap its huge cash piles to repurchase shares"
https://x.com/ChinaBeigeBook/status/1794380810898092363

[winston]

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Alibaba's (BABA) Secret Weapon for Future Growth

BABA’s strategic investments in Alibaba Cloud infrastructure and its domestic and international e-commerce platforms have spurred double-digit growth in key metrics such as gross merchandise value (GMV).

Alibaba’s secret weapon lies in its digital technology and intelligence arm, Alibaba’s Cloud Intelligence Group, which stood as the company’s second-largest revenue generator last year.

To foster long-term growth and attract startups and small businesses, Alibaba aggressively slashed prices on over 100 core public cloud products (including Elastic Compute Service (ECS), Object Storage Service, and database product categories) in China. This initiative was later extended globally in April with a 23% average price reduction.

Source: The INO.com Team

https://www.ino.com/blog/2024/05/alibab ... =blogclick

[winston]

vested

<Research>BABA-SW Forecasts to Finish Dual Primary Listing at End-Aug; M Stanley Expects Southbound Inclusion in Sep Soonest

Morgan Stanley issued a research report, saying that BABA-SW (09988.HK) expected to have its dual primary listing to be completed by the end of August.

The broker foresaw the likelihood of the group joining the Southbound Stock Connect to increase notably thereafter, with the earliest inclusion expected in September.

The broker expected some capital inflows, but not tremendously.

Morgan Stanley assumed that BABA-SW's weighted voting rights (WVR) should no longer be an obstacle. This was because when HKEX relaxed its secondary listing requirements, it already allowed American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) with dual primary listing status to retain WVR or variable interest entity structures.

Source: AAStocks Financial News

http://www.aastocks.com/en/stocks/news/ ... -news/AAFN

[behappyalways]

China's RT-Mart closes 20 stores this year with huge losses of 7.2 billion

中國大潤發倒店潮 年關20店 巨虧72億｜TVBS新聞

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jEyXQbYVTtA#bottom-sheet