Shares of Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) slipped after it appointed three new executives within its Cloud Computing unit. Each appointee is an Alibaba veteran who has served in various capacities and will now handle the affairs of different divisions within the team.
The move is part of the company’s plan to revitalize the segment and benefit from the booming artificial intelligence market that relies on cloud computing infrastructure. It also follows a disappointing announcement from last week when Alibaba backed out of an IPO for the unit.
At the same time, the company continues to struggle in the now state-dominated Chinese Cloud Intelligence market. This year, the company and Tencent have lost market share to Huawei and three national telecoms, highlighting increased government presence in China’s cloud-computing sector.
Furthermore, the unit revamp also gives management more balance, as it has struggled to find a replacement for former president Jeff Zhang, who left in 2022.
Is Baba a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
On TipRanks, BABA stock commands a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 19 Buys and one Hold. Following a 14.52% decline in its share price this year, the average BABA price target of $126.32 per share implies 60.65% upside potential.
