Citi has released a research note reiterating its "Buy" rating on Alibaba (09988, BABA.US) with price targets of $190 per American Depositary Share and HK$189 per Hong Kong-listed share. The brokerage's preliminary assessment suggests that the target of achieving a 20GW AI infrastructure scale by 2032, as mentioned by Alibaba CEO Wu Yongming, may align with the firm's forecast for fiscal year 2033.

This could potentially translate into external cloud revenue of $160 billion for fiscal year 2033, representing an increase of $60 billion compared with the brokerage's current projection of $100 billion for fiscal year 2031. The bank noted that this also implies a compound annual growth rate of approximately 40% in revenue between fiscal years 2026 and 2033, indicating that Alibaba maintains strong growth momentum. Although the company has yet to update its capital expenditure guidance of RMB380 billion, the broker expects capital spending to remain elevated over the coming years, consistent with the remarks made earlier by Wu Yongming during the earnings conference call. Additionally, the bank anticipates that a portion of the infrastructure capacity will be delivered through operating expenditure via partnerships with industry players.