U.S.-listed Alibaba (BABA) stock jumped more than 5% Thursday, as the China-based tech giant clawed back ground after two days of declines. The very heavy-volume move lifted Alibaba stock back above its 21-day exponential moving average.
A range of news items could be pushing shares higher. Bloomberg reported Thursday morning that Chinese officials are prepared to allow some imports of Nvidia's (NVDA) H200 chips as soon as this quarter for select commercial use. Alibaba and TikTok parent company ByteDance have each told Nvidia privately they are interested in ordering more than 200,000 H200 chips, Bloomberg noted. Access to the chips could help Alibaba advance its Qwen AI models.
A separate Bloomberg report early Thursday said Chinese regulators are banning major tech platforms such as Alibaba from coercing online merchants into promotions, part of an effort to "cool rapidly intensifying e-commerce competition." Alibaba has been competing against fellow China tech giants JD.com (JD) and Meituan for share of the country's "quick commerce" market. Investment in discounts and other growth initiatives has weighed on earnings for Alibaba since the company launched the business early last year.
Meanwhile, AI startup MiniMax announced that it raised $618.6 million through its Hong Kong initial public offering, Reuters reported. The deal priced a the top end of MiniMax's range, according to the report. Alibaba is an investor in MiniMax, which develops large language models for generative AI. In a separate new listing Thursday, China-based AI model developer Zhipu rallied 13% after its IPO in Hong Kong.
Alibaba Stock: Up 85% From 12 Months Ago
Meanwhile, American depositary receipts for Alibaba are ahead 5.3% at 154.47 in recent trading on the stock market today.
Alibaba stock posted a rebound year in 2025, with shares gaining more than 70%. Shares are down 20% from a four-year high in October, and remain well below record highs from late 2020.
