On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Chinese stocks seem to be getting ready for a bull run as the Chinese Government announced a shortening of the mandatory quarantine period for inbound travelers. The report said that the Chinese Government announced that inbound travelers would have to spend seven days at a quarantine facility, and an additional three days at home instead of the 21 days announced earlier.
According to Bloomberg, this resulted in the CSI 300 Index being up 1% on Tuesday afternoon, extending its gains from a low in April to almost 19%. This gain was mostly led by stocks in the tourism sector.
Will a bull run in Chinese stocks cause Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) to extend its gains further? The stock has already shot up 23.6% in the past month alone.
The easing of COVID-19 restrictions and favorable government policies could reaccelerate growth. The Chinese technology giant stated on its fiscal Q4 earnings call that in FY23, the company will be focusing on a few key objectives.
This included generating “sustainable, high-quality revenue that reflects our ongoing commitments to develop high quality consumers, high-quality digital commerce infrastructure and high-quality technology innovations.”
The company is also focused on optimizing its cost structure, “build an energy efficient cloud infrastructure” and maintaining strong operating cash flows.
While BABA refrained from giving any guidance for FY23 at its Q4 earnings call, considering the uncertain macroeconomic environment, Wall Street analysts continued to be bullish about the stock.
Earlier this month, Bank of America Securities analyst Eddie Leung reiterated his Buy recommendation on BABA stock with a Buy rating and a price target of $162 on the stock, implying an upside potential of 36.4% at current levels.
The analyst pointed out that BABA’s supply and fulfillment capacity showed signs of improvement in late May and early June but has not yet normalized. Leung added that demand has picked up for certain product categories, including outdoor, fitness, healthcare, and home furnishings, during the June promotional pre-sale period.
Besides Leung, other Wall Street analysts are bullish on the stock with a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 16 Buys and two Holds. The average Alibaba price target of $161.01 implies 35.6% upside potential.
Bottom Line
With the shortening of the quarantine period in China, it seems that the Chinese economy is finally getting ready to open up. This could only benefit BABA further, and the company could be on an upward trajectory this year.
Even investors on TipRanks seem to be upbeat about the stock as indicated by the Crowd Wisdom tool. In the past 30 days, the best-performing portfolios on TipRanks have increased their holdings of BABA by 22.7%, and investors are overwhelmingly very positive about the stock.
