Alibaba shares have accelerated their gains this month as the Chinese e-commerce giant has released a succession of new artificial intelligence models. “Alibaba’s approach of having a large range of AI models [is] a smart strategic play that sets it apart from other players and designed for efficiency,” said Brian Tycangco, an analyst at Stansberry Research. “A single large model that carries enormous features may not be practical for AI markets that don’t require complex search and compute,” he said. “This makes it too expensive for a good portion of the addressable market that needs an AI model for basic tasks.” Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares have climbed more than 14% in April, putting them on pace for their best month since January — when they rose by more than 18%. The U.S.-traded shares are also tracking for their best month since January. “BABA appears to be accelerating its AI investments; We believe the stepped-up investments are necessary in its race to reach and maintain dominance in AI,” Bernstein analysts said in an April 13 report, reiterating an overweight rating. They have a $186 price target on Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares. Bernstein analysts estimate Alibaba’s AI investments in the March quarter nearly doubled from the prior quarter to around 20 billion yuan ($2.93 billion). “BABA management recently guided to reach $100 …
