Shares of Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) ticked up higher in pre-market trading on Thursday even as SoftBank (SFTBY) sold the majority of its remaining shares in a move to limit its exposure to China as the technology downturn has left its investments in shambles.
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SoftBank has sold around $7.2 billion worth of Alibaba shares this year through prepaid forward contracts after a record sale of $29 billion shares last year, cutting its stake in BABA to just 3.8% from a 14.6% stake at the end of September. Earlier, the Japanese group, led by founder Masayoshi Son was holding a 34% stake in BABA.
Chinese tech stocks have had a rough start to the year as they have been bogged down by regulatory hurdles and a slowing Chinese economy.
Analysts remain bullish about BABA stock with a Strong Buy consensus rating based on a unanimous 18 Buys.
