Why Alibaba Stock Is Moving

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd – ADR (NYSE:BABA) shares are trading lower by 2.27% to $99.88 during Thursday’s session as investors continue to assess China's latest economic stimulus measures.

What Happened: Despite Beijing announcing support for low-income households and the property market, the lack of concrete financial commitments and targeted measures for the tech sector left investors uncertain about the potential impact on Alibaba's business.

As one of China's largest e-commerce and cloud computing giants, Alibaba relies heavily on consumer spending and business investments. The company has been facing slowing growth due to a weaker domestic economy, compounded by the lingering effects of regulatory crackdowns.

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The stimulus package, which lacked specifics on boosting consumer demand or business confidence, raised doubts about whether it would significantly benefit Alibaba's core e-commerce platforms or its cloud services.

What Else: Previously, reports suggested a potential issuance of 2 trillion yuan ($284.4 billion) in sovereign bonds to stimulate the economy, but the absence of such detailed plans has left markets unimpressed. For Alibaba, which depends on a strong retail and cloud market, weak economic sentiment could further dampen sales and expansion efforts.

Additionally, geopolitical tensions between China and the U.S. have restricted Alibaba’s access to advanced technologies such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence, vital for its cloud computing and AI-driven businesses.

These challenges, combined with uncertainties over the effectiveness of China's stimulus plan, are weighing on Alibaba's stock, reflecting broader market concerns about the tech giant's growth outlook.

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How To Buy BABA Stock

By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for Alibaba – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.

Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy ‘fractional shares,' which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share. For example, some stock, like Berkshire Hathaway, can cost thousands of dollars to own just one share. However, if you only want to invest a fraction of that, brokerages will allow you to do so.

In the the case of Alibaba, which is trading at $99.87 as of publishing time, $100 would buy you 1.0 shares of stock.

If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to ‘go short' a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.

According to data from Benzinga Pro, BABA has a 52-week high of $117.82 and a 52-week low of $66.63.