After Alibaba unveiled its HK$80 billion new share placement plan, management moved swiftly to demonstrate confidence in the company's prospects through concrete actions.
On August 24, according to the latest disclosure on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange website, Alibaba Group Chairman Joe Tsai and CEO Eddie Wu collectively acquired 1.07 million Class H shares of Alibaba, involving approximately HK$120 million. Specifically, Tsai purchased 720,000 Alibaba Hong Kong shares at an average price of HK$112.0803 per share, spending roughly HK$80.7 million, while Wu bought 350,000 shares at an average price of HK$111.6359 per share, totaling about HK$39.1 million.
Just one day prior to these executive purchases, Alibaba had announced its intention to place new shares, planning to raise approximately HK$80 billion, with the net proceeds entirely earmarked for investments in full-stack AI capabilities, strengthening AI infrastructure construction, and further consolidating the company's leadership position in the AI sector.
According to sources close to the transaction, Alibaba's placement attracted nearly three times oversubscription, exceeding HK$200 billion in total demand. Sovereign wealth funds and long-only funds ultimately accounted for over 40% of the final allocation, reflecting robust investor enthusiasm and exceptionally high order quality.
In recent years, AI has emerged as one of Alibaba's most critical investment priorities. From computing power and chips to large language models and applications, the company is progressively constructing a comprehensive full-stack AI ecosystem spanning the entire industry chain.
The fiscal year 2027 first-quarter earnings report revealed that Alibaba's AI-related products achieved annualized revenue exceeding RMB 49.5 billion in that quarter, with management projecting related revenue to reach US$10 billion in the upcoming quarter. Additionally, Alibaba outlined ambitious targets of reaching US$100 billion in external commercialization revenue for Alibaba Cloud by 2030, with profit margins of 20%.
As of the market close on August 24, Alibaba's H shares settled at HK$112.5, plunging 8.54% on the day, with an intraday low of HK$110.1. The company's total market capitalization eroded by approximately HK$201.3 billion in a single trading session.