For more than a year, Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) has been an uncertain investment as a combination of decline and volatility marked its performance.
By mid-September 2024, insider activity revealed that the company’s leadership is, despite the woes, optimistic about the future of BABA stock.
Specifically, Joseph Tsai, Alibaba’s Chairman and co-founder, has been steadily increasing his stake in the company and has acquired as many as 1.45 million shares – worth approximately $122 million – in recent weeks.
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Still, while the purchase is large in absolute terms, it does not constitute a particularly substantial increase in Tsai’s ownership of Alibaba. The co-founder’s stake in the company amounts to just under 277 million shares – 1.44% of the total stock.
Alibaba insider activity follows string of positive developments for BABA stock
The timing of Tsai’s purchase can be attributed to multiple factors. The most important among them might be that Alibaba has recently received praise from the Chinese government for its efforts to reform its business practices.
In fact, according to Beijing regulators, the company has done much to facilitate a better environment for sellers and buyers alike while helping foster competition in its sector.
The positive conclusion to the case is especially important as the e-commerce and technology giant has been under scrutiny for years over alleged monopolistic practices, and regulatory pressure has created some uncertainty over its future performance.
The probe may have been particularly concerning given Alibaba’s history of trouble with Chinese law enforcement.
Alibaba’s CEO, Jack Ma, has himself been in hot water over either criticizing the government or trying to operate his firm like a bank without proper licenses – the reasons depend on which outlet is covering the story.
The air of paranoia that has been surrounding the e-commerce giant is best seen in incidents like the 2022 arrest of a man also called ‘Ma’ – one with no relation to Jack Ma – which triggered a massive Alibaba stock sell-off.
Additionally, along with Beijing’s approval, Tsai’s purchase coincided with another Alibaba milestone: the conversion of the company’s secondary listing in Hong Kong into a primary listing.
The move, completed late in August, was expected to help Alibaba better leverage Hong Kong’s financial markets, boost liquidity, reduce risks associated with the U.S. listing – per the Global Times – and boost the city’s role as a global hub.
Alibaba stock price chart
While there are broad expectations that the recent developments – and, arguably, the insider bullishness – will lead to Alibaba’s stronger stock market performance, the hopes have yet to truly manifest.
Indeed, though BABA shares are in the green in 2024, with the rise particularly evident in the 6-month chart, the last 30 days have been primarily marked by high volatility.
Despite the two peaks in late August and the second week of September, the stock has only managed to remain level within the time frame, and Alibaba stock price today stands at $84.30.
While there are some price discrepancies between the markets on which Alibaba shares are listed – New York and Hong Kong – their performance and price movements have been following an almost identical pattern.
Finally, despite Aliababa not reacting as positively to the recent developments as could have been expected, its relative stagnation can also be interpreted as a good sign.
Most recent economic data in China has been a major disappointment for investors and has, by September 12, 2024, led to a broad crash to lows not seen since 2019.
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Disclaimer: The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.
