Alibaba Stock Rises on AI and Cloud Investment Optimism

Alibaba Group Holding Limited's U.S.-listed shares climbed nearly 1% as the company doubles down on artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure investments. The stock traded around $155.68, with analysts scrutinizing whether heavy spending will yield long-term gains amid rising capital expenditures.

The Chinese tech giant has committed 380 billion yuan ($52.44 billion) over three years to cloud and AI development, mirroring Amazon Web Services' expansion strategy. This aggressive investment has pushed Alibaba's capital expenditure intensity to 12.7% of revenue, up from 7.2% a year ago, creating both opportunity and near-term margin pressure.

Alibaba's Qwen App momentum positions it as a leader in consumer-facing AI applications across China. Potential approvals for Nvidia's H200 chips could further accelerate AI model development, strengthening Alibaba's cloud competitiveness despite margin pressures from quick-commerce subsidies.