DBS Maintains ‘Buy’ on Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA), Citing Strong Q2 Results and AI-Powered Growth in Cloud and E-Commerce

We recently compiled a list of the 15 AI Stocks Taking Wall Street by Storm. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) stands against the other AI stocks.

Artificial intelligence continues to achieve remarkable breakthroughs, yet its latest contribution might come as a surprise to many. According to a report by CNBC, AI can solve one of the biggest problems facing the USA: its skyrocketing fiscal deficit. According to three economists from the Brookings Institution, artificial intelligence could prove a positive “critical shock” for the country’s fiscal health.

READ NOW: 15 Buzzing AI Stocks Making Headlines and 15 AI Stocks to Watch: News and Analyst Ratings 

The Center on Regulation and Markets at Brookings released a working paper last month stating that under the most optimistic scenario, AI could reduce the annual U.S. budget deficit by as much as 1.5% of gross domestic product by 2044. This would lower annual budget deficits by roughly one-fifth at the end of the 20 years.

“The use of AI presents the rare — possibly unique — opportunity to expand access to health care information and services while simultaneously reducing the burden on the conventional health care system”.

– Paper’s authors, Ben Harris, Neil Mehotra and Eric So.

While adopting AI in healthcare is optimistic, Ajay Agrawal, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, reveals how economists’ outlook on AI and healthcare is “a mix of enthusiasm and despair”.

“Enthusiasm because there’s probably no sector that stands to benefit more from AI than health care. … But there’s friction due to regulation, due to incentives — because of the way things are structured and how people are paid for things — and friction due to the associated risks and liabilities”.

-Agrawal said.

In other news, CNBC reported that OpenAI has allowed its employees to sell about $1.5 billion worth of shares in a new tender offer to SoftBank. Current and former OpenAI employees will be able to cash out their shares this way, while the Japanese tech conglomerate will be able to get a larger slice of the pie of the AI startup. The tender offer follows the persistence of SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son after he made a $500 million investment in OpenAI’s recent funding round, also reflecting his growing interest in AI.

For this article, we selected AI stocks by going through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. These stocks are also popular among hedge funds.

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 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 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)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 115

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) is an online retailer leveraging AI in its e-commerce business. It has recently launched more than a hundred new AI models as part of its AI push.

On November 25, DBS analyst Sachin Mittal maintained a “Buy” rating on Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) after the company released its second-quarter results for FY25. The company’s Q2 results were strong, particularly in its cloud and e-commerce sectors. The company’s revenue reached ¥236.5 billion, a 5% year-on-year increase. Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall also managed 1% revenue growth despite a challenging retail environment. The company’s Cloud Intelligence Group reported ¥29.6 billion in revenue, marking a 7% year-over-year growth. The Cloud Intelligence Group is a global leader in cloud computing and artificial intelligence. The growing demand for public cloud and AI-driven products is also expected to achieve a consistent 9% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) from FY24 to FY27. Overall, Mittal expects Alibaba’s earnings to reach their lowest point by the fiscal year ending in March 2025, after which he expects a rebound in earnings, driven by growth in the company’s Cloud and E-commerce divisions.

Overall BABA ranks 3rd on our list of the AI stocks taking Wall Street by storm. While we acknowledge the potential of BABA as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. 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.

READ NEXT: 8 Best Wide Moat Stocks to Buy Now and 30 Most Important AI Stocks According to BlackRock.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.