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

[winston]

Ant's rectification is almost done as high-risk shadow banks dismantled

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said the rectification of Ant Financial has yet to be completed, and it has also removed a total of 25 trillion yuan (HK$30.94 trillion) in shadow finance.

Guo Shuqing, CBIRC's chairman, said at a conference yesterday that the self-checks within Ant was nearly complete but there are still issues to be investigated, adding that overall progress was smooth.

Last month, Chinese regulators asked state-owned firms to roll out a fresh round of checks about their investments in Ant.

Meanwhile, Guo stated CBIRC has dismantled "high-risk shadow banks" worth up to 25 trillion yuan from 2017 to 2021.

This came as S&P expects there will be US$1 trillion worth of local government debt to mature this year and the next, while Guo said yesterday that the local government hidden debt problem - referring to debt issued by local government financing vehicles - has improved and the risk is largely controlled.

Separately, Beijing will set up duty-free stores at ports and expand the scale of duty-free stores at airports to attract the return of international consumption, according to a Beijing Municipal Commission of Development & Reform statement.

This came as Fuzhou, Xiamen and Hangzhou are expected to become the third batch of pilot cities for usage of digital yuan, also known as e-CNY, the state-owned media Shanghai Securities Journal said.

Currently, e-CNY use is limited to 10 major cities such as Shanghai and Shenzhen, as well as the Winter Olympics site where China showcased the digital yuan to the event's foreign visitors.

It is one of the first sovereign digital currencies to be launched, putting the PBOC at the fore of a global race to develop central bank digital currencies.

On January 4, PBOC released its e-CNY wallet on mobile phone app stores, triggering public interest. Previously, e-CNY wallets could only be opened via select banks.

Source: The Standard

https://www.thestandard.com.hk/section- ... dismantled

[winston]

vested

Fitch: BABA-SW Growth Easing Yet Rating Headroom Ample

Retail sales slowdown, Covid resurgence and keen competition, will continue to weigh on BABA-SW (09988.HK)'s profitability and cash generation ability in short run, said Fitch Ratings. However, the company's credit profile shall remain solid.

BABA-SW's credit profile is supported by its market leadership in China's e-commerce market and cloud services fields, conservative capital structure and sufficient liquidity.

BABA-SW's rating headroom is the highest among Chinese internet issuers rated by Fitch.

China's macroeconomic challenges and keener market competition, will decelerate BABA-SW's revenue growth from 41% in FY21 to about 19% in the fiscal year ending March 2022, and further slow down to low-teens in FY23.

Source: AAStocks Financial News

[winston]

vested

Alibaba Stock: Don’t Catch the Falling Knife, Says JPMorgan

2 rate BABA a Hold, while all 20 others recommend to Buy, resulting in a Strong Buy consensus rating.

The projected gains are plentiful too; at $173.3, the average target implies shares will rise by 123% over the coming year.

Source: TipRanks

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/alibaba- ... 22271.html

[behappyalways]

Alibaba ramps up share buybacks to US$25 bil as crackdown signals ease
https://www.theedgesingapore.com/news/c ... gnals-ease

[winston]

vested

Alibaba Group – Macro uncertainties to weigh on nearterm outlook.
(9988 HK/BUY/HK$105.20/Target:HK$130.00)

We had a pre-blackout call with Alibaba.

It highlighted headwinds − ranging from the slowing macro environment and continued merchant support initiatives to the ongoing geopolitical tension − that weighed on the 4QFY22 performance.

We remain cautiously optimistic on the company given that the current valuation offers an attractive risk-reward opportunity as the overall regulatory risk had been priced in, pending a recovery in domestic consumption after COVID-19 subsides.

Maintain BUY. Target price: HK$130.00 (US$133.00)

Source: UOBKH

[winston]

Alibaba Stock Deserves a Better Price Target, but It’s Still a ‘Sell,’ Says J.P. Morgan

Because of the lockdowns, JPMorgan is now expecting that sales will not grow, but rather shrink year over year in the first half of calendar year 2022, falling 4% in the March quarter and 2% in the June quarter.

Downside risks for most of Alibaba's business segments' growth outlook in the coming two quarters, with lockdowns disrupting local consumer services, the Russia-Ukraine war messing up logistics and depressing international business and finally cloud computing growth suffering from weak demand in the year's first half.

Source: TipRanks

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/alibaba- ... 00718.html

[behappyalways]

Daily Journal, long overseen by Charlie Munger, halves stake in China's Alibaba
https://www.reuters.com/business/daily- ... 022-04-11/

[winston]

vested

BABA-SW Shrs Slip Over 2% as CN Watchdogs Probe Ant Group

Several regulatory departments in China, including the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), has recently joined investigation on the business links among Ant Group, financial institutions and state-owned Chinese companies, Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter. This forms part of the corruption investigation of the former Hangzhou party chief Zhou Jiangyong.

Sources said the CCDI is trying to get a clearer picture of the influence of Ant Group.
Although the state-owned banks and companies submitted the related reports of their risk exposure to Ant Group, the government has not made further decision. It remains unknown whether the probe is still ongoing.

The share price of BABA-SW (09988.HK), dented by the news, once tumbled 4.7% to bottom at $93.85 this morning (14th). It last printed at $95.85, down 2.7%, on turnover of $1.83 billion.

Source: AAStocks Financial News

[winston]

Anti-graft watchdog involved in Ant probe

China's top anti-graft watchdog was among the agencies involved in a recent inquiry into links between Jack Ma's Ant Group and state-owned Chinese companies, sources said, escalating the risks for the country's most recognizable tech tycoon and his internet empire.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection was seeking to understand the influence of Ma's fintech empire and the extent of its transactions with state banks and enterprises, they said.

The CCDI, which oversees corruption probes involving senior members of the Communist Party, was involved in the queries sent to state firms in February about their exposure as part of its investigation of former Hangzhou party chief Zhou Jiangyong, one of the people said. Both Ant and Alibaba (9988) are headquartered in Hangzhou.

Source: The Standard

https://www.thestandard.com.hk/section- ... -Ant-probe

[winston]

vested

Alibaba: Near-Term Headwinds Won’t Derail Long-Term Growth, Says Analyst

by Marty Shtrubel

The “escalating lockdown measures” and international developments have hit the company hard on several fronts:-
1) ecommerce, due to logistical disruption;
2) other retail and local services, on muted offline activities; and
3) Cloud, because of on-site project delays

“On international, the recent geopolitical tensions have further dragged on the growth trajectory amid the ongoing impact of the EU’s removal of the VAT exemption and the currency depreciation in certain markets (e.g., Turkey).”

Source: Tip Ranks

https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/a ... =story_wed