Alibaba Group stock gains as JPMorgan backs AI-driven growth

Published on 09/18/2026 at 14:35 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS

Alibaba Group stock rose in New York trading on September 17, 2026, supported by solid Q2/2026 earnings and improving cloud margins. Investors are watching JPMorgan’s September 18, 2026 target of USD 210 for BABA shares tied to new AI models like Qwen3.8-Omni-Flash.

BABA, US01609W1027, Illustration mit AI erstellt.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd stock (ISIN US01609W1027) edged higher in New York trading on September 17, 2026, closing at 108.54 USD after a 1.2 percent gain, while investors focused on strong recent earnings and a fresh AI push in its cloud business.

AI model launch and JPMorgan price target

As Sina Finance reported on September 18, 2026, Alibaba introduced a new native multimodal AI model called Qwen3.8-Omni-Flash that accepts text, image, audio and video input with a context length of up to one million tokens.

According to Sina Finance, Alibaba stated in its official blog that API prices for audio input in this model fell by more than 98 percent per hour and prices for audio-video input declined by more than 93 percent, aiming to strengthen Alibaba Cloud’s position in AI applications.

JPMorgan took this AI strategy into account and, as Sina Finance noted on September 18, 2026, set a price target of 210 USD for Alibaba’s US-listed BABA shares and 205 HKD for the Hong Kong listing 09988, maintaining an Overweight rating.

Stock performance in Hong Kong and New York

On the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Alibaba-W (ticker 09988) was quoted at about 108.90 HKD intraday on September 18, 2026, up roughly 3.6 percent from the prior close of 105.10 HKD, with the day’s high near 109 HKD and trading volume above 32.62 billion HKD, according to Sina Finance.

Reuters likewise showed Alibaba-W at 108.20 HKD on September 18, 2026, a gain of 2.95 percent from the previous close of 105.10 HKD, underlining that the Hong Kong line was one of the stronger names in the Hang Seng Index on that date.

In New York, BABA shares traded at 108.54 USD at 20:26 local time on September 17, 2026, up 1.2 percent on the day, after opening at 107.90 USD and touching an intraday high of 109.13 USD, per data cited by finanzen.ch.

Latest quarterly figures and margin trends

Alibaba presented its latest quarterly figures for the period ended June 30, 2026 on August 20, 2026, giving investors a current view of earnings and revenue momentum.

According to finanzen.ch, Alibaba reported earnings per share of 0.66 USD in this latest quarter, down sharply from 2.57 USD per share in the same quarter of the prior year, while revenue was 39.51 billion USD.

This means earnings per share fell by about 74.3 percent year on year for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, whereas revenue still grew compared with the previous year, highlighting a squeeze in profitability even as the top line expanded.

Seeking Alpha pointed out on September 18, 2026 that despite the share price being about 18 percent below its peak before the first-quarter earnings report, Alibaba’s cloud margins continue to improve and AI Cloud revenue was up around 45 percent year on year in the second quarter of 2026.

That compares with approximately 36 percent growth in Alibaba Cloud revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025, as cited by a Bank of America report mentioned in a summary on September 18, 2026, meaning cloud growth has accelerated by roughly 9 percentage points between those periods.

Analyst views and valuation context

The JPMorgan target of 210 USD for BABA shares implies a notable upside versus the latest close of 108.54 USD on September 17, 2026, corresponding to a potential gain of about 93.6 percent if the target were reached, which highlights the bank’s positive stance on Alibaba’s earnings and AI roadmap.

In addition, a separate analysis on September 18, 2026 described Alibaba stock as upgraded to Strong Buy after a 16 percent drop, noting a forward price-to-earnings ratio of about 16.5 times, AI Cloud revenue growth near 45 percent year on year and significant AI capital expenditure plans, according to Ground News summarizing MarketBeat commentary.

These views are not unanimous, however, because earnings per share have come under pressure and the latest quarter showed a profit decline even as revenue expanded, so investors need to weigh cloud growth, AI investment and margin improvement against the risk that profitability could remain volatile.

Regulatory and geopolitical risks also remain part of the story: a separate article on September 18, 2026 reported that a US government website, the Federal Register, briefly tested and then disabled a Qwen-based search tool for regulatory texts amid security concerns and allegations about copying models from Anthropic, which underscores that Alibaba’s AI activities attract scrutiny from US authorities, as discussed by Aktiencheck.

Options activity and short-term sentiment

Options trading around Alibaba stock has been active as well, giving a glimpse into short-term sentiment in the derivatives market.

According to Moomoo, on September 17, 2026 Alibaba options volume reached about 255,300 contracts, with put options accounting for 60.09 percent of total volume and call options 39.91 percent.

The same overview noted that at a BABA share price of 108.65 USD, a large put order of 13,700 contracts with a strike price of 135 USD and an expiration date of September 18, 2026 stood out, involving about 36.34 million USD in notional value, pointing to hedging or bearish positioning despite the positive analyst commentary.

Open interest in Alibaba options totaled approximately 2.595 million contracts as of the close on September 17, 2026, which was about 103.8 percent of the stock’s 30-trading-day average, indicating that derivatives interest was somewhat above recent norms, as per Moomoo.

Next checkpoints for investors

Alibaba’s next quarterly report date beyond the June 30, 2026 quarter was not explicitly stated in the available recent sources, but the August 20, 2026 conference provides a reference point for the reporting rhythm, and investors will likely look for the next update roughly three months after that event.

Until then, the combination of strong cloud revenue growth, aggressive AI pricing cuts and the JPMorgan target of 210 USD sets a constructive fundamental backdrop, while the sharp decline in quarterly earnings per share and active put option buying underline that market participants remain alert to downside scenarios.

Alibaba Group stock price and trading venue

Alibaba Group stock’s reference price in this article is the closing level of 108.54 USD on the New York Stock Exchange on September 17, 2026, with the shares having traded between 107.90 USD and 109.13 USD that day and ending 1.2 percent higher than the prior close, according to figures cited by finanzen.ch.