Alibaba price target lowered to $128 from $150 at Benchmark

Benchmark lowered the firm’s price target on Alibaba to $128 from $150 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm is lowering its fiscal Q3 revenue estimate, noting that its checks suggest Alibaba had strategically shifted incremental resources towards Taobao during the promotional quarter, resulting in a setback in take rate and potentially softer than expected CMR. GMV growth should “track largely healthily at mid-single-digit” year-over-year, but on the bottom line the firm sees potential risks to prior estimates with AIDC investment kicking into high gear pushing for rising adoptions of Choice model across its core regions, says the analyst, who anticipates that the AIDC investment cycle may maintain at a high level throughout FY25.