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Alibaba's Global Headquarters In Hangzhou
Alibaba’s Xixi Campus (Long Wei/Getty Images)

Alibaba shares jump 7% as China upgrades focus on domestic consumption

Alibaba shares soar as China’s leadership prioritizes retail spending.

Nia Warfield

Shares of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba popped nearly 8% in early afternoon trading after China reaffirmed its 2025 economic growth target Tuesday evening. The nation stuck to its 5% growth target, defying trade tensions, weak domestic demand, and a deepening property slump. 

The announcement, made by Premier Li Qiang, follows China’s confirmation that it met its 2024 GDP goal, expanding by 5%. China’s leaders are currently convening to discuss their policy agenda, and measures to boost consumption are in focus to help the country overcome growth headwinds tied to trade barriers.

“Boosting domestic consumption is back as the No. 1 work task, up from No. 3 last year,” Citigroup strategists including Pierre Lau wrote.

That’s good news if you’re in the commerce (or e-commerce!) business.

Adding to Alibaba’s momentum, the company recently beat Q2 FY 2025 expectations, posting 5% revenue growth to $33.7 billion. Meanwhile, net income soared 58% to $6 billion. Shares of Alibaba are up 93% over the past year.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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