Zhi Tong Cai Jing·2026-01-06 02:41Core Viewpoint - Zhejiang Securities maintains a "Buy" rating for Alibaba Group (09988) with a target price of HKD 189.09, highlighting the company's leading position in the AI-integrated cloud platform and the high certainty of profit margin improvement in its cloud business, which is expected to drive valuation enhancement [1] Group 1: AI Application and Market Position - Alibaba's Qianwen AI application achieved over 30 million MAU within 23 days of public testing, making it one of the fastest-growing AI applications globally, competing with Doubao for AI entry points [1] - Qianwen adopts a "free + value-added + B-end open source" model, focusing on professional scenarios and long-context processing, while Doubao leads with over 100 million DAU using a closed-source multimodal agent approach [1] Group 2: Ecosystem Transformation and Consumer Experience - Qianwen is expected to reshape Alibaba's ecosystem with its AIAgent capabilities, enhancing the entire e-commerce chain by improving efficiency for merchants and optimizing consumer experiences through AI-driven search, price comparison, and personalized recommendations [2] - The integration of Qianwen with Fliggy's "Ask" feature will provide 24/7 assistance for complex travel needs, generating complete itineraries from real-time data [2] Group 3: Financial Performance and Cash Flow - Alibaba's capital expenditure reached RMB 31.428 billion in Q3 2025, a year-on-year increase of 85.12%, indicating a period of rapid growth [2] - The company reported a negative free cash flow of RMB -21.84 billion in Q3 2025, primarily due to increased capital expenditures and competitive pressures in the food delivery sector, although it still holds RMB 292.3 billion in net cash and liquid investments [2] Group 4: Cloud Business Profitability - Alibaba Cloud's EBITA margin remains lower compared to Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure, but historical data from Google Cloud suggests significant profit margin improvement potential as scale increases [3] - The growth of Alibaba Cloud's scale is expected to lead to higher long-term profit margins, with substantial room for improvement as the company transitions past its initial high-investment phase [3]