Morgan Stanley lowers Alibaba's target price to $150, saying food delivery and flash sales will drag down short-term profits
Morgan Stanley estimates that Alibaba's investment in food delivery and flash sales in the first fiscal quarter ending in June reached about 10 billion yuan, and short-term profits will be under pressure; however, it is still optimistic about its AI empowerment potential and maintains the e-commerce preference ranking: Alibaba>Meituan>JD.com. Analyst Gary Yu and others said in the report that the company's investment in food delivery and flash sales in the second fiscal quarter is expected to double to 20 billion yuan, dragging down Taobao and local life EBITA by more than 40% year-on-year, but this may become the peak of investment, as the company has announced a 50 billion yuan subsidy plan, and JD.com's momentum has also begun to slow. Looking forward to the first quarter of the fiscal year, Alibaba Cloud's business revenue is expected to increase by 22% year-on-year, capital expenditure is expected to continue to rise month-on-month, and profit margins will stabilize at 8%. The company's total revenue is expected to increase by 2% year-on-year, and adjusted EBITA is expected to decline by 16% year-on-year. The target price for the company's American depositary receipts will be lowered from US$180 to US$150.