Benzinga | Jan 7, 2022 01:01PM EST

Benchmark Remains Bullish On This E-Commerce Giant

* Benchmark analyst Fawne Jiang lowered the price target on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) to $235 from $245 and reiterated a Buy rating on the shares.

* The price target implies an upside of 94% to January 5, 2022, closing price of $121.16.

* Jiang has cut her fiscal Q3 revenue estimates on government data and local channel checks that suggest December may have seen further softness in consumer demand.

* Related Content: Read Why China Penalized Alibaba, Tencent, Bilibili

* Macro headwinds and rising COVID resurgences in China could have put incremental pressure on Alibaba's GMV growth compared with its peers given its higher exposure to consumer discretionary categories, Jiang tells investors.

* Alibaba is an online and mobile commerce company. It operates China's online marketplaces, including Taobao (consumer-to-consumer) and Tmall (business-to-consumer).

* Price Action: BABA shares traded higher by 3.85% at $131.50 in the premarket session on the last check Friday.