Alibaba Gets 24% Price Target Boost On Covid Policy Relaxation and Ant's IPO Prospects - Alibaba Gr Holding (NYSE:BABA)

Barclays analyst Jiong Shao maintained Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA with an Overweight and raised the price target from $114 to $141.
Alibaba's December quarter results are once again likely to feature broadly in-line revenue and better margins.
Alibaba reported second-quarter FY22 revenue growth of 3% year-on-year to $29.12 billion, missing the consensus of $29.45 billion.
Also Read: China Gets Hold Of Alibaba And Other Tops Execs Of Chinese Companies To Trumpet Confidence In Domestic Economy On State TV
China commerce segment revenue declined by 1% Y/Y to $19 billion, and Cloud grew by 4% Y/Y to $2.92 billion.
Non-GAAP earnings per ADS of $1.82 beat the consensus of $1.64.
But more importantly, Shao expects BABA to finally see growth in GMV in the March quarter, the first time in 12 months.
In addition, recent news flow points to the possibility of Ant Group IPO in '23.
Ant promoted 20-year veteran Sophie Wu Minzhi to Chief People Officer, replacing Sam Zeng Songbai, starting from January 1.
The promotion came after Chongqing Ant Consumer Finance won the permit to raise 10.5 billion yuan ($1.5 billion), the first approval since China foiled Ant's $39.67 billion initial public offering in November 2020.
Separately, Ant updated its marketing guidelines for financial consumer protection on its website, signifying the acceleration of its restructuring after winning regulatory approvals.
Benchmark recently shared upbeat opinions on Alibaba as it eased down Covid lockdowns.
Price Action: BABA shares traded lower by 0.01% at $114.98 on the last check Wednesday.

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