With Apple out of the way, the other big “A” story in September 2014 is Alibaba and the massive IPO it is launching within the next few weeks.
Several fund managers and analysts gave Ma a strong review for his pitch with Boston investors, though corporate governance remains a concern. There are also concerns about the company’s choice to spin off Alipay, its profitable payments arm. In Alibaba’s favor is strong cash-flow and low capitalization intensity that is similar to investor favorites Google and Facebook, reports Reuters.
“He’s executed well,” said Will Danoff, who runs the $111 billion Contrafund for Fidelity Investments. “There’s a lot of big numbers in there,”
Contrafund held significant stakes in Google and Facebook at the end of July, according to fund disclosures from Fidelity.
Analyst forecast Alibaba will raise more north of $21 billion in the IPO, with a an overall valuation over $160 billion.