Independent research on the U.S. markets, Baptista Research

Baptista Research

Independent research on the U.S. markets

Baptista Research is an independent financial research house focused on the U.S. markets. We provide equity research as well as credit research reports on the top-listed U.S. companies with most of our focus on technology, consumer goods and services, automobiles, industrials, oil and gas, pharma, and healthcare. Our research has served more than 3000 institutional investors including mutual funds, hedge funds, banks, family offices, and various buy-side firms. We operate a research subscription service where institutions, as well as retail investors, can have priority access to all our research. We also have a wide distribution of our research reports across some of the top global financial platforms. Apart from equity research and credit research, we also provide advisory services with respect to mergers & acquisitions (M&A), private equity/ venture capital fundraising, valuation reports, and investment management services for corporates.
Baptista Research is owned and managed by Ishan Majumdar, an ex-Venture Capitalist/ Investment Banker, a Chartered Accountant, and a Masters’ degree holder in Management from HEC Paris. Ishan has nearly a decade of experience in Mergers and Acquisitions, Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs), Venture Capital Investing, Corporate Strategy, and Valuation in front-office roles at the likes of BNP Paribas CIB, Credit Agricole CIB, Groupe Danone, and TIW Private Equity. He has worked on and closed multiple acquisition deals, leveraged buyouts, and start-up investment transactions.

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul><li>As geopolitical pressures and regulatory hurdles continue to stifle Nvidia’s ability to deliver its most powerful AI processors to Chinese buyers, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is rapidly stepping in to fill the void.</li><li>The Chinese tech conglomerate has developed a new AI chip that is both more versatile and domestically manufactured—breaking its prior dependency on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing.</li><li>This new chip, tailored for a broad range of AI inference tasks, is currently in testing and could offer Chinese enterprises a viable alternative to Nvidia’s downgraded H20 processor, which was specifically built for the Chinese market under export restrictions.</li></ul>

As geopolitical pressures and regulatory hurdles continue to stifle Nvidia’s ability to deliver its most powerful AI processors to Chinese buyers, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is rapidly stepping in to fill the void.The Chinese tech conglomerate has developed a new AI chip that is both more versatile and domestically manufactured—breaking its prior dependency on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing.This new chip, tailored for a broad range of AI inference tasks, is currently in testing and could offer Chinese enterprises a viable alternative to Nvidia’s downgraded H20 processor, which was specifically built for the Chinese market under export restrictions.

Alibaba’s AI Chip Leap: A Threat To Nvidia’s China Dominance?

Blue Lotus China New Economy Research, Blue Lotus Research Institute

Eric Wen

Blue Lotus China New Economy Research

China growth and global non-US Internet equities

Blue Lotus Research Institute

Blue Lotus Research is a Hong Kong Type 4 Licensed investment advisory firm focusing on Chinese growth equities and global non-US Internet equities

<ul>
<li>Alibaba (BABA) reported C2Q25 top line, non-GAAP op. profit and GAAP net income (4.3%), (10%) and 7.7% vs. our est. and (2.2%), 20% and 9.5% vs. cons.. </li>
<li>As stated in our previous reports, we believe O2O e-commerce will constitute ~20% of China's e-commerce and BABA will capture ~50%. </li>
<li>We maintain BABA's TOP BUY classification and raise TP to US$181</li>
</ul>


Alibaba (BABA) reported C2Q25 top line, non-GAAP op. profit and GAAP net income (4.3%), (10%) and 7.7% vs. our est. and (2.2%), 20% and 9.5% vs. cons.. 
As stated in our previous reports, we believe O2O e-commerce will constitute ~20% of China's e-commerce and BABA will capture ~50%. 
We maintain BABA's TOP BUY classification and raise TP to US$181


[Alibaba (BABA US, BUY, TP US$181) Target Price Change]: C2Q25 Review: Who Will Rescue Meituan?

Derivatives and Quantitative Strategist

Gaudenz Schneider

Equity Derivatives

<ul>
<li>
Context:<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/alibaba-group-holding-ltd-d7b798e2-202d-4e01-9a1e-799e2ae8f0c7" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28434:1" rel="noopener">Alibaba (9988 HK)</a> reported Q1 results on 29 Aug. Despite a revenue miss, strong cloud growth and its AI chip announcement drove the stock up double digits.</li>
<li>
Highlight: Implied volatility deflated sharply post-earnings, with the September contract down 8.5% and back months also lower, while skew shifted down in parallel.</li>
<li>
Why it matters: Put the current volatility surface into context. This insight can serve as a case study of how earnings-driven repricing can inform positioning ahead of future events.</li>
</ul>



Context:Alibaba (9988 HK) reported Q1 results on 29 Aug. Despite a revenue miss, strong cloud growth and its AI chip announcement drove the stock up double digits.

Highlight: Implied volatility deflated sharply post-earnings, with the September contract down 8.5% and back months also lower, while skew shifted down in parallel.

Why it matters: Put the current volatility surface into context. This insight can serve as a case study of how earnings-driven repricing can inform positioning ahead of future events.


Alibaba (9988 HK): Stock Surges Post-Earnings, Options Market Reprices

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One, Periscope Analytics

Brian Freitas

Pan-Asia Index Rebalances/ Events/ Delta One

Periscope Analytics

Periscope Analytics focuses on event-driven trades across Asia Pacific and provides comprehensive, timely and systematic coverage of index changes to major Asia Pacific indices in a structured manner.

The analysis includes forecasted inclusions and exclusions to all major Asian indices that have significant amount of tracking assets, including estimates of passive buy/sell flow on the stocks. The service also provides commentary and impact of market consultations, ground rule changes, and other events (IPOs, spin-offs, M&A) that could lead to index changes and passive flow.

Periscope Analytics works with multi-strategy hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, stat arb trading groups and long-only investors that invest and trade in the Asia Pacific region with the data being used to trade index rebalances, avoid pre-positioning and passive flow, and to time entry into and exit from stocks.

Event-Driven Trades Across Asia Pacific

Index Rebalance

<ul>
<li>The September rebalance of the Hang Seng family of indices will use today's closing prices to cap the index constituent weights.  </li>
<li>The net round-trip trade across all stocks across the five indices is estimated at HK$57.55bn (US$7.4bn). There is size to trade in a lot of stocks.</li>
<li>
<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/alibaba-group-holding-ltd-d7b798e2-202d-4e01-9a1e-799e2ae8f0c7" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28434:1" rel="noopener">Alibaba (9988 HK)</a> has flipped from a net buy to a net sell following its huge rally yesterday.</li>
</ul>


The September rebalance of the Hang Seng family of indices will use today's closing prices to cap the index constituent weights.  
The net round-trip trade across all stocks across the five indices is estimated at HK$57.55bn (US$7.4bn). There is size to trade in a lot of stocks.

Alibaba (9988 HK) has flipped from a net buy to a net sell following its huge rally yesterday.


HSI, HSCEI, HSTECH, HSIII Index Rebalance: US$7.4bn of Flows Post Capping (Sep 2025)

Chief Executive Officer, Emmer Capital Partners Limited

Manishi Raychaudhuri

Chief Executive Officer

Emmer Capital Partners Limited

Emmer Capital Partners is an Asia Pacific focused financial advisory firm engaging in strategic financial asset allocation advice, bespoke thematic research and advising early-stage companies and connecting them to investors. Emmer Capital provides macro-economic and multi-asset investment strategy inputs to institutions, family offices, private wealth managers, private equity, and corporate boards directly and through independent research platforms. Emmer Capital also advises a wide range of startup companies on fund raising and business strategy. Emmer Capital's active engagement with the print and electronic media reaches a broad spectrum of investors across the globe.

<ul>
<li>Asian buybacks, dominated by HK, China and Korea, are skyrocketing.  In H125, buybacks more than doubled from their full year 2024 levels in HK/China and increased 40% in Korea. </li>
<li>We screen companies repurchasing consistently, with total buyback of minimum $1bn and buyback over 2024-25 of at least 2% of present market cap, yielding companies in HK(11), Korea(6), Philippines(2), Singapore(1).</li>
<li>Top five repurchasers are Alibaba, Tencent, China Communication Construction, AIA, Netease. These, barring the third, are up more than 20% this year. Share price support from buybacks do seem solid.</li>
</ul>


Asian buybacks, dominated by HK, China and Korea, are skyrocketing.  In H125, buybacks more than doubled from their full year 2024 levels in HK/China and increased 40% in Korea. 
We screen companies repurchasing consistently, with total buyback of minimum $1bn and buyback over 2024-25 of at least 2% of present market cap, yielding companies in HK(11), Korea(6), Philippines(2), Singapore(1).
Top five repurchasers are Alibaba, Tencent, China Communication Construction, AIA, Netease. These, barring the third, are up more than 20% this year. Share price support from buybacks do seem solid.


Asian Buybacks Accelerating; Consistent Share Repurchasers Offer Safety

China

Alibaba Group Holding Limited provides online sales services. The Company provides internet infrastructure, electronic commerce, online financial, and internet content services through its subsidiaries. Alibaba Group Holding offers its products and services worldwide.

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Alibaba (9988 HK)

Alibaba’s AI Chip Leap: A Threat To Nvidia’s China Dominance?

As geopolitical pressures and regulatory hurdles continue to stifle Nvidia’s ability to deliver its most powerful AI processors to Chinese buyers,...

Baptista Research

[Alibaba (BABA US, BUY, TP US$181) Target Price Change]: C2Q25 Review: Who Will Rescue Meituan?

Alibaba beats earnings estimates, poised to dominate O2O e-commerce in China with a 50% market share, leading to a top buy rating and increased...

Blue Lotus Research Institute

Alibaba (9988 HK): Stock Surges Post-Earnings, Options Market Reprices

Alibaba's Q1 results drive stock up 12% despite revenue miss. Implied volatility deflated post-earnings, offering insight for future positioning.

Gaudenz Schneider

HSI, HSCEI, HSTECH, HSIII Index Rebalance: US$7.4bn of Flows Post Capping (Sep 2025)

The Sep rebalance of the HSI, HSCEI, HSTECH, HSIII, HSHKBIO indices will use today's closing prices for capping. The round-trip trade across the...

Brian Freitas

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52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

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Alibaba’s AI Chip Leap: A Threat To Nvidia’s China Dominance?

As geopolitical pressures and regulatory hurdles continue to stifle Nvidia’s ability to deliver its most powerful AI processors to Chinese buyers,...

Baptista Research

[Alibaba (BABA US, BUY, TP US$181) Target Price Change]: C2Q25 Review: Who Will Rescue Meituan?

​Alibaba beats earnings estimates, poised to dominate O2O e-commerce in China with a 50% market share, leading to a top buy rating and increased...

Blue Lotus Research Institute

Alibaba (9988 HK): Stock Surges Post-Earnings, Options Market Reprices

​Alibaba's Q1 results drive stock up 12% despite revenue miss. Implied volatility deflated post-earnings, offering insight for future positioning.

Gaudenz Schneider

HSI, HSCEI, HSTECH, HSIII Index Rebalance: US$7.4bn of Flows Post Capping (Sep 2025)

The Sep rebalance of the HSI, HSCEI, HSTECH, HSIII, HSHKBIO indices will use today's closing prices for capping. The round-trip trade across the...

Brian Freitas

Asian Buybacks Accelerating; Consistent Share Repurchasers Offer Safety

​Asian buybacks, led by HK, CN, KR, are surging. Buybacks more than doubled in H125 relative to full year 24 levels. Top consistent repurchasers:...

Manishi Raychaudhuri

Alibaba beats earnings estimates, poised to dominate O2O e-commerce in China with a 50% market share, leading to a top buy rating and increased...

Alibaba's Q1 results drive stock up 12% despite revenue miss. Implied volatility deflated post-earnings, offering insight for future positioning.

Asian buybacks, led by HK, CN, KR, are surging. Buybacks more than doubled in H125 relative to full year 24 levels. Top consistent repurchasers:...