We recently published a list of 7 Cheap Global Stocks to Buy Right Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) stands against other cheap global stocks to buy right now.
The geopolitical landscape has drastically changed since the beginning of the decade, with the COVID-19 pandemic followed by worldwide spikes in inflation leading to completely different economic tendencies if compared to the previous decade. The conflict in Ukraine brought even more geopolitical turmoil, with many analysts believing that this war represents the end of several political and economic alliances, notably between Europe and Russia on the one hand, and between the USA and China on the other hand. The first so-called alliance of the past led to strong economic growth in both the EU and Russia, as the former used cheap energy and commodities from Russia to fuel its industrial sector (particularly that of Germany), while Russia itself had the freedom to export its capital and source the technology and talent it needed for development. The second so-called alliance, between the USA and China, fueled unprecedented growth in China, in a journey to secure the American market and industry with cheap electronics, components, consumer products, and everything the country needed to grow its technological leadership.
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As the Ukraine conflict unfolded in Eastern Europe, some tendencies from the times of the Cold War proliferated again, with the East and the West isolating each other, as the USA and Europe aligned to support Ukraine, while China had the back of Russia. The aforementioned “old” alliances were shattered, and each region started to face new problems – the EU’s energy security faced unprecedented risks, with energy prices skyrocketing across central and eastern Europe, leading to a slowdown in economic growth and tremendous pressure on the regular consumer. The US and China escalated the trade wars that had their roots in the previous decade – in an attempt to protect its technological leadership, particularly in the AI field, the US imposed restrictions to export semiconductor equipment used in the production of state-of-the-art chips, such as powerful GPUs to train AI models. China imposed some retaliatory restrictions regarding several strategic commodities sourced by the US. Even though the trade wars are still not fully enforced by both parties, the tensions persist and have deep implications for the financial markets and the global economy.
As geographic markets became more disconnected, the stock markets in the USA, Europe, and APAC had quite different performances, with the former leading by a wide margin in 2023-2024. For reference, the 5-year performance of the German stock market lagged that of the US by 57%, China lagged the US by 94%, and Japan lagged the US by 58%. In light of the proliferating geopolitical challenges, which still persist as the new Trump 2.0 administration threatens tariffs on its supposed allies as well as China again, we believe that global companies that are diversified across geographies will be the most favored in the years to come, due to stronger potential to diversify idiosyncratic risk. Furthermore, as the US stock market is currently near all-time highs after a stellar 2023-2024 period, cheap companies trading under 15.0x forward P/E might be the only viable option to buy in the current expensive market. Successful investors like Warren Buffet acknowledged that an overstretched valuation could hinder the subsequent performance of a stock. Here’s precisely what he said during his 1998 letter to shareholders:
“For the investor, a too-high purchase price for the stock of an excellent company can undo the effects of a subsequent decade of favorable business developments.”
Our Methodology
We used a Finviz screener to filter the largest stocks trading at under 15x forward P/E and analyzed the companies’ filings in order to identify 7 promising global companies that generated at least 40% of revenue in the last financial year from outside the US. For each company, we also include the number of hedge funds that own the company as of Q4 2024 and rank them in ascending order.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
An e-commerce platform displaying a wide range of products to customers online.
Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)
Forward P/E ratio as of February 24th: 13.13x
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 107
Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) is China’s leading e-commerce and cloud computing powerhouse, operating a vast digital ecosystem that spans online retail, logistics, fintech, and enterprise services. Its core e-commerce platforms, Taobao and Tmall, dominate China’s online shopping landscape, while Alibaba Cloud is a key player in Asia’s cloud infrastructure market. The company has faced regulatory pressures and shifting macroeconomic conditions in recent years, prompting strategic restructuring to enhance agility and unlock shareholder value.
In the latest 3Q 2025, Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) demonstrated accelerating growth momentum in its core businesses after a year of transformation, with largely completed divestments of offline assets. The company’s cloud business pursued an integrated AI plus cloud strategy, with AI-related product revenue maintaining triple-digit YoY growth for the sixth consecutive quarter. In e-commerce, Taobao and Tmall showed strong growth in new consumers and orders, with CMR growing 9% year-over-year and 88 VIP members reaching 49 million. The international e-commerce business maintained strong growth with improved operating efficiency, with AIDC expected to achieve its first quarter of profitability in the next fiscal year.
Looking ahead, management plans significant investments in three key areas over the next three years: infrastructure for AI and cloud computing, AI foundation models and AI native applications, and transforming existing businesses with AI. Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)’s planned investment in cloud and AI infrastructure over the next 3 years is set to exceed what they have spent over the past decade. Financially, the company reported total consolidated revenue of RMB 280.2 billion, an increase of 8%, with consolidated adjusted EBITDA increasing 4% to RMB 54.9 billion. The company maintains a strong net cash position of RMB 378.5 billion ($51.9 billion), providing sufficient resources for its planned AI investments. At the same time, despite the accelerating business outlook, BABA trades at a cheap 13.13x forward P/E, which makes it one of the best cheap global stocks to invest in.
Overall, BABA ranks 1st on our list of cheap global stocks to buy right now. While we acknowledge the potential of BABA as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than BABA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
