Why Alibaba Stock Is Standing Strong in a Weak Market

Alibaba cloud engineers working in a data center. (Courtesy Alibaba)

Key Points

• Alibaba’s American Depositary Receipts rose 3.1% on Monday, contrasting with a 0.5% decline for the S&P 500.
• China’s manufacturing PMI was 49.2, marking its eighth consecutive month below 50, indicating economic contraction.
• The non-manufacturing PMI also fell to 49.2, its first contraction in nearly three years, fueling hopes for government stimulus.

Alibaba Group stock was one of the few names rising on Monday, with the wider market seeing a rocky start to December as risk sentiment among investors seemed to take a hit.

While the S&P 500 was down 0.5% at 10:26 a.m. Monday morning, Alibaba’s American Depositary Receipts—or ADRs, essentially its U.S.-listed stock—jumped 3.1%.

The reason why? It looks like economic pain in China could mean government stimulus from Beijing that could boost Alibaba.

Investors were digesting key economic data from China that came out over the weekend. The country’s official manufacturing purchasing-managers’ index (PMI) printed at 49.2, with any number below 50 marking contraction, and this being the eighth consecutive month for the index below 50.

The non-manufacturing PMI came in at 49.2, below expectations of 50 and marking the first month of contraction in nearly three years.

These are signs of weakness in China’s economy—and they could cause Beijing to act.

“Chinese equities are bucking the risk off elsewhere this morning, possibly on stimulus hopes given the data,” noted Jim Reid, a strategist at Deutsche Bank.

Indeed, both Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and the Shanghai Composite advanced on Monday while stocks in Tokyo and across Europe were in the red, with the same performance looking likely in the U.S. before the open.

Alibaba, which maintains a core business in online retail alongside its booming artificial intelligence (AI) arm, would likely benefit from government stimulus in China to prop up the economy.

It’s the likely reason why Alibaba’s ADRs are poised to outperform the wider U.S. stock market on Monday.

Write to Jack Denton at jack.denton@barrons.com