Alibaba (NASDAQ:BABA) has been called the Chinese stock version of Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) before, and with good reason. The two have quite a bit of overlap, though in different regions of the world, which makes comparisons between the two fairly handy. And now, Alibaba shot up to close over 8% in Friday’s trading session thanks, in part, to the latest bit of analyst support.
This time, the analyst in question is Benchmark’s own team, who noted that the risk/reward ratio is coming around into more positive territory. That’s thanks to Alibaba’s plans to spend the next six to 18 months working to “unlock shareholder value” via a complete reorganization. “Dilbert” fans, right now, are likely rolling their eyes at the notion that a reorg does anything but make a pointy-haired boss look more effective, temporarily. But this one seems to be different.
Analysts are generally optimistic as well. In fact, they’re almost unanimously so: 14 Buy ratings and one Hold make Alibaba stock a Strong Buy, according to consensus. Meanwhile, with an average price target of $141.87, Alibaba stock offers investors 56.68% upside potential as well.
