Orient Securities has issued a research report stating that the 2025 Apsara Conference demonstrated Alibaba-W's (09988) rapid advancement in AI technology and strong strategic commitment to its "All in AI" approach. The company's leading position in large language model technology has been further solidified, with significant improvements in multimodal large models following updates, while the open-source strategy has driven notable growth in both the company's model ecosystem and user penetration.

The firm is optimistic about the company's sustained leadership in large model capabilities and strong dual B2B and B2C penetration under its open-source strategy. Accordingly, it has raised revenue growth expectations for Alibaba Cloud and set a target price of HK$205.34, maintaining a "BUY" rating.

The report notes that the company is strengthening its AI strategic positioning and increasing investment intensity. The combination of leading model technology and open-source strategy is driving improved penetration rates across both B2B and B2C segments. The firm remains positive about the company's continued leadership in AI cloud and models, as well as Alibaba Cloud's sustained acceleration going forward.

The firm forecasts the company's operating revenue for FY2026-2028 at RMB1,008.4/1,139.1/1,248.2 billion (revised from previous forecasts of RMB1,004.9/1,125.6/1,212.9 billion, with Alibaba Cloud revenue growth rates raised due to deepening AI strategy and model technology progress), and adjusted net profit at RMB141.2/187.8/216.6 billion (revised from previous forecasts of RMB140.5/186.6/209.1 billion, with profit projections raised due to accelerating Alibaba Cloud AI revenue driving margin improvements).