Alibaba Chair Says Business Entrepreneurs ‘More Confident’ After Meeting With Xi Jinping In January, Signals Hiring Boost

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. BABA BABAF  Chairman Joe Tsai announced Tuesday the company will resume hiring, signaling growing confidence in China’s business landscape following recent economic policy shifts.

What Happened: Speaking at HSBC’s Global Investment Summit, Reuters reported that Tsai highlighted a pivotal meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and private business leaders as a turning point.

“We’ve seen a very clear sign of business entrepreneurs becoming more confident since January,” Tsai told attendees, emphasizing the government’s encouraging message to reinvest and expand the workforce.

The tech giant’s hiring plans come amid a remarkable resurgence in Chinese equities. The iShares China Large-Cap ETF FXI has surged 20.27% year-to-date, outperforming the S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, which is down 2.05% in the same period.

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Why It Matters: Alibaba’s optimism stems from China’s broader economic strategies, including a recently announced “special action plan” aimed at boosting domestic consumption. The company is also investing heavily in artificial intelligence, committing $52 billion to cloud computing and AI infrastructure over the next three years.

The tech sector’s momentum is further bolstered by innovations from companies like Baidu Inc. BIDU, which recently unveiled its Ernie X1 AI model, claiming performance comparable to competitors at half the cost.

Analysts remain cautiously optimistic. With Alibaba’s current consensus price target of $138.26 and some analysts projecting up to $190, the company appears poised for significant growth in the rapidly evolving Chinese tech market.

Price Action: Alibaba’s ADR closed at $134.48 on Monday, down 0.49%. After hours, it dipped to $134.45. Year to date, the stock is up 58.30%, gaining 88.19% over the past year, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Alibaba has strong momentum based on Benzinga Edge Rankings. Click here for the full stock analysis.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.