Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) shares are trading slightly lower despite a bullish call from JPMorgan on Monday.
JPMorgan analyst Alex Yao double upgraded Alibaba from an Underweight rating to an Overweight rating, citing increased clarity around regulations.
Yao believes the uncertainty surrounding Chinese stocks is no longer a cause for concern after the Chinese government announced it would ease its crackdown of tech companies at the end of April.
The JPMorgan analyst upgraded several Chinese stocks, but noted that Alibaba was deserving of a double upgrade as it trades at the lowest price-to-earnings multiple among the Chinese e-commerce names. Yao expects Alibaba's earnings per share growth to recover more than 30%, beginning in the fourth quarter.
Alibaba operates China's online marketplaces, including Taobao (consumer-to-consumer) and Tmall (business-to-consumer).
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BABA 52-Week Range: $73.28 - $230.89
According to data from Benzinga Pro, the stock was down 0.82% at $87.31 at time of publication.
Photo: courtesy of Alibaba.
