Bank Of America Says Alibaba Is No.1 In Global e-Commerce, Amazon No. 2

Bank of America issued a report Wednesday on the Internet/e-Commerce industry and ranked Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA No. 1 in global e-Commerce and Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN just behind it.

"eCommerce continues to be a top secular growth story with estimated global growth at 26 percent in 2014 (above almost all tech and retail subsectors)," according to the report.

The firm raised its global eCommerce forecast to $1.44 trillion in 2015 and $1.77 trillion in 2016 with mobile purchasing a key driver of growth.

Analysts led by Justin Post expected "holiday quarter growth to be driven by: 1) strong mCommerce contribution; 2) retailers offering completive deals on eCommerce sites in a fight for consumer dollars; and 3) improvements in free shipping and same-day shipping for last minute orders.

"With dominant 74 percent share in China in CY2014E, Alibaba is the global market share leader at 31 percent of GMV.” Post expected “Alibaba to grow faster than the market in 2015, driving share to 33 percent."

Post expected "Amazon to continue to take US eCommerce share, growing GMV 21 percent in 2014 and capturing 41 percent of US industry growth, with global share at 12 percent in 2014."

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd traded at $84.70 in the premarket, down 0.29 percent.

Amazon.com, Inc. traded at $306.77 in the premarket, down 0.50 percent.