Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE:BABA) stock noted a turnaround after grappling with regulatory crackdowns, leadership reshuffles, and collapsing market confidence. A rallying call from co-founder Jack Ma in late 2023 helped ignite a turnaround that has pushed the company’s U.S.-listed shares up nearly 60% year-to-date, adding more than $100 billion to its valuation, CNBC reported Friday

Ma’s internal message urging Alibaba to “correct its course” signaled a renewed focus on core businesses and reinvigorated investor sentiment.

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Under the leadership of Eddie Wu and Joe Tsai, the company has since leaned into artificial intelligence and streamlined its operations.

Alibaba’s earlier struggles began with the sudden halt of affiliate Ant Group’s record-setting IPO in 2020, following remarks by Ma that appeared to challenge China’s regulators. That event set off years of intensified scrutiny, fines and forced restructuring across China’s tech sector. As regulatory pressure mounted, Alibaba’s valuation and market presence suffered significantly.

In 2023, Alibaba underwent a sweeping reorganization, breaking into six semi-independent units and installing new leadership. Wu and Tsai opted to realign the company around its e-commerce and cloud computing operations, rolling back the fragmented business structure.

Its deep push into AI has been a key catalyst for Alibaba’s revival. The release of its Qwen family of open-source models positioned the company as a serious player in generative AI, rivaling global leaders like OpenAI. Alibaba’s popularity on Hugging Face underscores the international reach of its technology. These models support advanced tasks across video, text and image generation.

Executives expect this to be a significant growth engine, with the company planning to invest over $50 billion into AI infrastructure through 2027.

The return of Ma to public view, particularly during a high-profile meeting with President Xi Jinping in February, signaled improved relations between Alibaba and China’s leadership.

Analysts have noted Alibaba’s sharp turnaround. Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities called Alibaba the “best way to play China tech,” citing its strong positioning in AI and cloud. Chelsey Tam of Morningstar emphasized that Beijing’s renewed support for private enterprises like Alibaba signals a favorable policy environment.

Price Action: BABA stock is down 1.28% at $133.90 premarket at last check Friday.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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