Alibaba Shares Break $100 On Apple Partnership Rumors

Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA have traded above $100 for the first time since the company came public on September 19.

The IPO was priced at $68 per share, and the stock opened at $92.70 on the first day of trading, with a high of $99.70 that day.

Following that, the shares sold off to a low of $82.81 on October 15, which marked the low for the stock price. Following numerous analysts upgrades, shares of Alibaba rebounded strongly off the lows, trading up nine out the following 10 days, for a nearly 22 percent move in 10 trading days. There are have been rumors of a partnership between Apple Inc.'s AAPL Apple Pay and AliPay, the two companies payment systems.

Alibaba earnings are due out November 4, with high expectations. Analysts estimate net income of $1.19 billion (or $0.48 per share) for the three-month period. Revenues are expected at $2.55 billion, a nearly 42 percent increase year-over-year.

Shares of Alibaba were last up 2.26 percent at $100.00. Apple was up 1.1 percent at $106.29.