The headlines are buzzing today with news about newly listed Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), led by word that the e-commerce giant may explore an electronic payments tie-up with global gadget leader Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL). I’ll be quite frank and say that such a tie-up would seem destined for disaster, based on the previous experience between Alibaba and Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), its only other major partner in a similar past tie-up.
Meantime, Alibaba has also announced a spin-off of its fledgling online travel business, posing the interesting possibility of some major acquisitions as it tries to quickly expand the unit and also presenting a challenge to sector leaders Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) and Qunar (Nasdaq: QUNR). Lastly there’s the largely technical news bit that Alibaba’s stock broke through the $100 mark for the first time in the latest trading session, putting it nearly 50 percent above its IPO price, as investors eagerly await the company’s maiden earnings report set for next Tuesday. (earnings calendar) Read Full Post…
