Alibaba's magic
carpet ride came to a standstill on Thursday following an unexpected
earnings miss and a clash with China's government, but experts tell CNBC
that the world's largest e-commerce firm remains a compelling
investment.
Shares plunged 10 percent after Alibaba reported a 40 percent rise in revenue for the last three months of 2014 year-on-year, below expectations for a 60 percent increase, with investors complaining that growth was too dependent on the annual Singles Day event. Thursday marked a rare falling out with the investor community following Alibaba's wide-spread popularity since its market debut last September.
Alan Haft, Partner at Kelly-Haft Financial, called the selloff overblown. "This is like having a Ferrari and being bummed out that instead of doing 220 miles around the bend, it only did 210," he said on Friday.
"Just buy on those dips because this is a great company for the long-term investor," he added, noting that the profit numbers were still solid. Earnings per share (EPS) beat expectations by 6 cents while gross merchandise volume (GMV), i.e. the total of Alibaba's online transactions, rose 49 percent.
Read MoreJack Ma: Alibaba is'still just a baby'
"eBay would love to report those kind of numbers," noted Martin Pyykkonen, managing director at Rosenblatt Securities.
Alibaba's stock price has fallen over 20 percent since its November highs, but most analysts say they remain buyers at the current $89 level.
"Our target price is $118, so that represents a more than 30 percent upside from here," said Cynthia Meng, managing director for China and Hong Kong Telecom, Media and Technology Equity Research at Jefferies.
Shares plunged 10 percent after Alibaba reported a 40 percent rise in revenue for the last three months of 2014 year-on-year, below expectations for a 60 percent increase, with investors complaining that growth was too dependent on the annual Singles Day event. Thursday marked a rare falling out with the investor community following Alibaba's wide-spread popularity since its market debut last September.
Alan Haft, Partner at Kelly-Haft Financial, called the selloff overblown. "This is like having a Ferrari and being bummed out that instead of doing 220 miles around the bend, it only did 210," he said on Friday.
"Just buy on those dips because this is a great company for the long-term investor," he added, noting that the profit numbers were still solid. Earnings per share (EPS) beat expectations by 6 cents while gross merchandise volume (GMV), i.e. the total of Alibaba's online transactions, rose 49 percent.
Read MoreJack Ma: Alibaba is'still just a baby'
"eBay would love to report those kind of numbers," noted Martin Pyykkonen, managing director at Rosenblatt Securities.
Alibaba's stock price has fallen over 20 percent since its November highs, but most analysts say they remain buyers at the current $89 level.
"Our target price is $118, so that represents a more than 30 percent upside from here," said Cynthia Meng, managing director for China and Hong Kong Telecom, Media and Technology Equity Research at Jefferies.
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