Crypto Whales Are Loading Up — Are You?
New research shows the biggest crypto buyers are back. And this time? They could hold for the possibility that Bitcoin will surpass $100,000 in 2024. You don’t want to miss the next massive crypto bull run like we saw in 2020 and 2021. To know exactly what’s going on and what to buy… Get Access To Benzinga’s Best Crypto Research and Investments For Only $1.
China e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE:BABA) is scheduled to report fiscal Q4 2018 earnings before market open on Friday, May 4. Heading into earnings, the stock remains a ways below its all-time high of $206.20 it hit at the end of January.
This will be the first quarter where BABA will not receive 37.5 percent of Ant Financial’s, pre-tax profits. That deal ended in February when BABA took a 33 percent equity stake in Ant, which runs mobile-payment network Alipay and provides other financial services.
ENTER TO WIN $500 IN STOCK OR CRYPTO
Enter your email and you'll also get Benzinga's ultimate morning update AND a free $30 gift card and more!
For the quarter, BABA is expected to report adjusted EPS of $0.88 on revenue of $9.17 billion according to third-party consensus estimates. Analysts are projecting revenue growth of 64 percent and earnings growth just shy of 40 percent compared to the prior-year period. In the same quarter last year, the company reported adjusted EPS of $0.63 on revenue of $5.6 billion.
BABA’s core commerce segment, which includes Taobao and Tmall, makes up the bulk of the company’s revenue and profits. When it last reported, core commerce revenue increased 57 percent year-over-year to $11.26 billion. BABA has also increasingly pushed into offline retail, something several analysts have cautioned will weigh on the company’s earnings.
To expand its core commerce segment in China and abroad, BABA has been on a bit of an acquisition spree. In March it invested an additional $2 billion in Lazada, its e-commerce subsidiary that operates across Southeast Asia, bringing its total investment to $4 billion. Just a few weeks ago, BABA announced it would fully acquire Ele.me, China’s largest food delivery platform, in a deal that valued the company at $9.5 billion.
Beyond the company’s core commerce business, its cloud computing division is another common focus among analysts. The segment has been its fastest growing in recent quarters, although it is still its third largest segment by revenue behind core commerce and digital media and entertainment. When it last reported, cloud computing revenue increased 104 percent year-over-year to $553 million.
ALIBABA IN 2018. BABA has pulled back a ways from the all-time high of $206.20 it hit on January 30. Since then, the stock has bounced off the low-$166 level a couple of times and is still down about 3.5 percent on the year. Chart source: thinkorswim® by TD Ameritrade. Not a recommendation. For illustrative purposes only. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
FREE REPORT: How To Learn Options Trading Fast
In this special report, you will learn the four best strategies for trading options, how to stay safe as a complete beginner, a 411% trade case study, PLUS how to access two new potential winning options trades starting today.Claim Your Free Report Here.
Options Trading Activity
Around the upcoming earnings release, options traders have priced in about a 4.3 percent stock price move in either direction according to the Market Maker Move indicator on the thinkorswim® platform. Implied volatility was at the 72nd percentile as of this morning.
In short-term trading at the May 4 weekly expiration, calls were active at the 180 and 185 strike prices. Activity on the put side was spread out across a range of strikes and concentrated at the 175, 177.5 and 180 strikes.
At the May 18 monthly expiration, calls were active at the 190 and 195 strikes, while puts were active at the 175 and 180 strikes. At the June 15 monthly expiration, there has also been higher volume in recent trading at the 200 and 210 strikes, a decent ways out of the money.
Note: Call options represent the right, but not the obligation, to buy the underlying security at a predetermined price over a set period of time. Put options represent the right, but not the obligation to sell the underlying security at a predetermined price over a set period of time.
What’s Coming Up
Earnings season is starting to slow down a little bit, although there are still many major companies left to report. Over the next few weeks, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Home Depot Inc. (NYSE:HD), Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW), Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT), Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) and Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) are just some of the bigger names scheduled to release quarterly results.
Looking at economic data, the next major report coming up is the April jobs report set to be released Friday morning, the same day as BABA’s earnings. For a look at what else is going on, check out today’s market update.
Information from TDA is not intended to be investment advice or construed as a recommendation or endorsement of any particular investment or investment strategy, and is for illustrative purposes only. Be sure to understand all risks involved with each strategy, including commission costs, before attempting to place any trade.
Crypto Whales Are Loading Up — Are You?
New research shows the biggest crypto buyers are back. And this time? They could hold for the possibility that Bitcoin will surpass $100,000 in 2024. You don’t want to miss the next massive crypto bull run like we saw in 2020 and 2021. To know exactly what’s going on and what to buy… Get Access To Benzinga’s Best Crypto Research and Investments For Only $1.