Bottom line: Alibaba’s stock is likely to come under continued pressure over the next 6 months, as it grapples with overvaluation, piracy issues and a large volume of shares coming back into the market from Yahoo.
Yahoo to spin off Alibaba stake
E-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) is in a couple of major headlines today, raising questions about its future ownership and also its open platform business model. On the ownership side, US Internet giant Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) has announced it will spin off its large stake in Alibaba into a separate company, and then distribute shares in that new firm to existing Yahoo shareholders. On the business model side, Alibaba has enlisted one of the thousands of merchants on its popular Taobao C2C marketplace to respond to a government audit that found nearly two-thirds of goods sold on Taobao were fakes. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Alibaba could make a bid to buy Yahoo as part of a broader overhaul of the relationship between these 2 Internet companies, but personal and other issues could ultimately hamper such a deal.
Yahoo to sell remaining Alibaba stake?
Media have been focused these last 2 days on reports of a new mega purchase by Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) in the insurance space, but another report centers on a far more intriguing possible deal involving the e-commerce giant’s long relationship with faded US search giant Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO). That particular relationship has undergone huge changes since the pair first formed their partnership a decade ago, and could easily be the subject of a book. In the latest chapter to that story, a new report is speculating that Alibaba could make a bid for Yahoo in the next year as it seeks to go global following its blockbuster IPO in 2014. Read Full Post…
Alibaba may have lost its affection for Hong Kong’s securities regulator after an impasse over its IPO plans, but it appears to be moving in a happier direction these days with US Internet giant Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO). That’s my assessment, following word that Yahoo will hold onto a larger share of China’s e-commerce leader than the 2 sides had previously agreed to last year when they reached a landmark deal to end their 7-year-old stormy marriage. That leads me to my longer-term forecast that perhaps we could see this pair remain united for the next few years in a strategic alliance, which could even see Alibaba acquire its own strategic stake in Yahoo at some point in the not-too-distant future. Read Full Post…
