Alibaba (BABA), a multinational technology and e-commerce behemoth, is set to report its Q4 2022 earnings on May 6.
With a market capitalization of $263 billion, the company has lost almost 13% of its worth over the past three months. The stock price of Alibaba continues to be weighed down by recent lockdowns, ongoing regulatory challenges, macro headwinds, and heightened competition.
Alibaba posted mixed quarterly earnings in Q3 2022. Revenues of $38.01 billion were up 10% year-over-year, but fell short of the $38.83 billion consensus projection. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS of $2.65 came in above the consensus estimates of $2.55.
Let’s take a look at the company’s prospects for the upcoming quarter.
Website Visit Statistics
The number of visitors to Alibaba’s e-commerce websites — alibaba.com, aliexpress.com, and taobao.com — can reveal a lot about the company’s upcoming sales performance.
So, ahead of the Q4 print, we used TipRanks’ Website Traffic Tool to have a better understanding of the company’s results.
However, on a year-over-year basis, monthly visits to the Alibaba website spiked 61.8% in the fourth quarter.
Alibaba’s Expectations for Q4
Alibaba is expected to report adjusted earnings of $1.11 per share in the fourth quarter, according to experts. The Q4 EPS forecasts show a double-digit drop in earnings of around 89% from the year-ago quarter.
Wall Street’s Take
Mizuho analyst James Lee maintained a Buy rating on the stock but decreased the price target to $160 from $180 per share.
Lee anticipates the first half of 2022 to be challenging for Alibaba due to the weak consumer spending and restricted corporate operations caused by the resurgence of the coronavirus and lockdowns in China. He believes that COVID’s negative consequences will be felt across all segments, namely eCommerce, Advertising, and Cloud Computing.
On TipRanks, Alibaba stock commands a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 17 Buys and one Sell. The average BABA price target of $170.29 implies upside potential of approximately 74.1%.
Bottom Line
Alibaba’s upcoming Q4 results could be hurt by the Chinese economic downturn, rising competition in the e-commerce industry, disruptions from the Russia/Ukraine conflict, and other macro headwinds.
On the other hand, BABA’s dominant market positioning, international expansion, expanding active consumer base, and investments in growth initiatives should provide a solid foundation for long-term growth.
Learn more about the Website Traffic tool in this video by Youtube sensation Tom Nash.
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