SoftBank has almost fully pulled out of Alibaba stock

SoftBank says it has almost entirely pulled out of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA). Shares of the Chinese tech titan are still up some 4.0% on Monday. 

SoftBank has been investing in Arm instead

Alibaba now accounts for “almost zero” percent of the net asset value at SoftBank - down massively from 48% in 2020. 

The Japanese conglomerate is now investing more aggressively in artificial intelligence. Arm Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARM), for example, makes up 45% of its net asset value at writing. According to Yoshimitsu Goto - the chief financial officer of SoftBank:

SoftBank is currently a majority owner of the British chip designer. 

Alibaba will report quarterly earnings tomorrow

SoftBank ended its fiscal 2023 with realised and unrealised valuation losses of about ¥960 billion related to its position in $BABA. 

The news arrives only a day before Alibaba is scheduled to report its financial results for the fourth quarter. Consensus is for it to earn 92 cents a share versus $1.15 per share a year ago. 

Ahead of its earnings report, Youssef Squali - a Truist analyst lowered his price target on Alibaba stock to $113. That still, however, suggests about a 35% upside from here. 

Note that the company based out of Hangzhou, China also currently pays a dividend yield of 1.18% which makes up for another good reason to have it in your investment portfolio.