We recently published a list of 10 Best AI Stocks to Buy According to Carolina Panthers Owner Billionaire David Tepper. Since Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) ranks 1st on the list, it deserves a deeper look.

Billionaire David Tepper stands out amongst American hedge fund managers for his two recent moves: his bet on Chinese stocks despite their volatility and underperformance and his early arrival at the AI party.

David Tepper’s passion for investing goes all the way back to his high-school days. He once recalled:

“I remember my dad had made some small investments in a few companies, so I would track them and see how he was doing.”

Tepper bought his first stock when he was in high school — 100 shares of a $2 stock, “but then the whole thing went bankrupt,” he said.

 “It was a bad investment, but that didn’t deter me.”

Today, Tepper is worth about $20 billion. He was piling into AI stocks when they were just getting started. This wasn’t a fluke or a one-off success from the billionaire. Data from Bloomberg shows that Tepper has posted annualized returns of 28% for investors, before fees. In 2022, when markets were tumbling amid inflation storm and rising interest rates, Appaloosa returned 12.5%. Tepper’s instincts and grip over financial markets were strong even when he was in his late 20s and 30s, raking in huge profits for Goldman Sachs, which he’d joined in 1985.

Tepper rose to fame at Goldman when his portfolio stood out in the midst of the market crash of 1987.

According to The Alpha Masters: Unlocking the Genius of the World’s Top Hedge Funds, written by Maneet Ahuja, Tepper recalled:

 “Going into the crash I had set up my entire portfolio as just short—I had no long positions. I made a fortune during and after the crash,” he says with a chuckle. “It was very cool.” Unfortunately, the rest of the firm didn’t do as well. “I still got a raise but not as much as I should have.”

Tepper’s fund Appaloosa Management has released its latest holdings data and it’s time to see which AI stocks are in the billionaire’s portfolio. 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).

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd – ADR (NYSE: BABA)

Billionaire David Tepper’s Stake: $756,000,000

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd – ADR (NYSE:BABA) recently posted its quarterly results which were mixed as revenue missed Wall Street estimates. BofA Securities and Truist reaffirmed their Buy ratings on the stock after the results. Bernstein, on the other hand, gave it a Market-Perform rating while upping the price target from $80 to $85. Truist also kept its Buy rating but adjusted its price target down from $110 to $100, noting that Alibaba Group Holding Ltd – ADR (NYSE:BABA)  fiscal Q1 2025 results showed solid operational performance despite a challenging macro environment.

UBS is bullish on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s (NYSE:BABA) exposure to AI because of Alibaba Cloud, or Alibaba Cloud, which makes the Chinese company a formidable player in the AI enabling layer. In the intelligence layer, UBS highlighted Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s (NYSE:BABA) Qwen large language model, while the Qwen agent makes the company’s presence notable in the application layer.

However, uncertainties in China and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s (NYSE:BABA) lackluster performance have damaged the sentiment around the stock. While Alibaba Cloud is a significant player in the market, analysts believe enormous growth and advancements of Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft in the public Cloud markets have left Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) behind. Wall Street analysts expect Alibaba earnings to grow at a CAGR of just 1.7% only over the next five years. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s (NYSE:BABA) forward PEG ratio is 3.29, which is high when we incorporate the unimpressive earnings growth expectations.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s (NYSE:BABA) e-commerce business is also struggling as buyers in China become price-conscious amid a broader slowdown. However, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) bulls believe the stock could rebound if the situation improves in the country, given the company’s massive cash flow position.

O’keefe Stevens Advisory stated the following regarding Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:

“We initiated two new positions during the quarter: Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) and Perrigo (PRGO). Both have seen their stocks decline over 70%+ from their all-time highs.

Alibaba is the largest e-commerce player in China, with 40% gross merchandise volume (GMV) market share through its Taobao and T-mall businesses. While the cloud computing business is relatively small, its 37% market share in China positions it well to capitalize on the increasing demand for AI-related products. In the most recent quarter, AI-related cloud revenue recorded triple-digit growth y/y, with the expectation that total cloud revenue will accelerate to double-digit growth in 2H 2025.

It’s rare to find a dominant market share business with significant tailwinds trading for ~10x adj. EPS. After accounting for their ~$60B net cash balance sheet, the stock is trading at 6-7x, which, we believe, is far too cheap. We understand this business would not trade at this price if it were a U.S. business. However, the valuation gap at a high single-digit P/E is pricing in a combination of the following risks – 1. China invading Taiwan. 2. Cash can never leave mainland China (disproven). 3. Increasing competition from Pinduoduo and Shien resulting in market share loss 4. China’s geopolitical tensions worsen. 5. Economic slowdown stemming from the recent housing market downturn. 6. VIE structure creates doubt over the actual ownership of the business. All risks have merit, with cash distribution restrictions at the lower end due to the recently announced dividend and special dividend. Cash returned to shareholders totaled $16.5B in FY24, up from $13.4B in FY23…” (Click here to read the full text)

Overall, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) ranks 1st on Insider Monkey’s list titled 10 Best AI Stocks to Buy According to Carolina Panthers Owner Billionaire David Tepper. While we acknowledge the potential of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA), our conviction lies in the belief that 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.

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