It’s time to pick up Alibaba shares as they could more than double in a “blue sky scenario” after the company split, according to JPMorgan. Analyst Alex Yao said Wednesday that Alibaba stock has even more upside in the medium to long term, even after the e-commerce giant’s reorganization announcement spurred the stock to close higher on Tuesday by more than 14%. In fact, Yao’s $210 price target on Alibaba’s US-listed shares suggests the stock has roughly 113% upside from Tuesday’s close of $98.40. The stock was up more than 2% on Wednesday afternoon. BABA 1D mountain Alibaba US-listed shares 1 day “From an investor sentiment impact perspective, we liken Alibaba’s reorganization to Google’s transformation into Alphabet, a clear sentiment booster that should drive the stock price in the near term,” Yao wrote. “Nonetheless, we believe Alibaba’s reorganization could have more significant implications for business fundamentals and share price in the medium to long term. We expect a positive share price reaction to the reorganization announcement and our sum-of-the-parts (SOTP) valuation analysis indicates a value of 210 USD/HK$205 per share as a blue-sky scenario, Yao added.Alibaba said on Tuesday it will split its company into six business groups, a significant restructuring of the Chinese technology giant that will see each of the companies take raise external funding and go public – with the exception of Taobao, which will remain wholly owned by Alibaba. Each company will also have its own CEO and board of directors. The decision provided a boost to Alibaba, which in recent years has struggled to slow the economic growth in China. Alibaba shares are more than 14% higher in 2023, but fell 25% in 2022 and about 49% last year. However, the analyst expects the split could mean a “faster and more agile” and “cost-efficient” Alibaba. According to the company, decision-making has been slower at Alibaba compared to some of its peers. “At the group level, we believe the reorganization will lead to consistent margin improvement in the future,” Yao said. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
