Alibaba Set to Unveil Q3 Earnings Amid AI Advancements

BEIJING, China — Alibaba Group will announce its fiscal Q3 FY25 financial results on February 20, with analysts predicting earnings of $2.67 per share on revenues of $38.20 billion.

The Chinese e-commerce giant has seen its stock price increase by over 74% in the past year, attributed largely to positive developments in its cloud computing sector, AliCloud. Additionally, the growth of the domestic e-commerce market and Alibaba’s expanding influence within the industry have fueled investor optimism.

Wall Street analysts estimate a 6% year-over-year revenue growth for Alibaba, marking a significant rebound as the company continues to streamline its operations. Historically, Alibaba has missed earnings-per-share estimates only twice in the last nine quarters, underscoring its strong performance amid fluctuating market conditions.

Last week, it was reported that as part of an agreement with Apple, Alibaba’s Qwen 2.5 artificial intelligence model will be integrated into iPhones sold in China. This integration is expected to enhance features such as voice recognition, content recommendations, and photo editing capabilities for Chinese consumers.

In light of these developments, analysts are optimistic about Alibaba’s potential in AI technology. Investment analyst Yao reports that Alibaba’s stock has risen more than 23% since the launch of its Qwen 2.5 model on January 29, outperforming the MSCI China Index during this period. Yao offers a Buy rating on the stock with a price target set at $125, indicating that continued growth in cloud revenue and AI adoption could lead to further increases in stock value.

Another analyst, Chong, shares this bullish outlook, raising his price target for Alibaba to $150 while maintaining a Buy rating. He notes that the Qwen model supports leading open-source AI technologies and that its Qwen 2.5-Max MoE model excels in key benchmarking assessments against its competitors.

According to the TipRanks Options tool, current expectations for Alibaba’s stock movement following the earnings announcement indicate a significant potential shift. Analysts project a strong consensus rating of Strong Buy for BABA stock, with seven Buys and one Hold recorded in the past three months. The stock currently has a price target of $129.13, which suggests a potential upside of about 3.53%.

As the market prepares for the upcoming earnings release, attention will also be focused on several other companies scheduled to report this week, including Walmart and Baidu. The performance of Alibaba in Q3 can potentially influence investor sentiment across the broader technology and e-commerce sectors.

Investors are closely monitoring the economic landscape, including anticipated Federal Reserve meeting minutes and data on the housing market and consumer sentiment. This week’s developments could provide further insights into the overall economic conditions as major companies prepare to adjust their strategies in response to evolving market dynamics.