Jefferies hikes price targets on China internet stocks after stimulus

Investing.com -- Jefferies raised price targets on China's internet stocks following the country’s recent stimulus measures to support the troubled economy.

The firm’s analysts upped their price objectives for Alibaba (NYSE:BABA ) from $116 to $142, JD (NASDAQ:JD ).com from $43 to $54, Pinduoduo (NASDAQ:PDD ) from $151 to $181, and Tencent from HK$490 to HK$540 incorporating a higher valuation multiple and rolling forward estimates to fiscal year 2026 (FY26).

“Prior to recent policies measures, online shopping has been trading at low end of sector valuation at about 8-9x, which is about 40%-50% discount to high end at 15-16x,” Jefferies analysts said in a Tuesday note.

“We expect the gap between low and high end not to be as wide compared to before on improving sentiment.”

Key events to watch include Alibaba's narrowing gross merchandise value (GMV) and customer management revenue (CMR) growth gap, daily active users (DAU) synergies, and improved non-GAAP earnings from Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group (AIDC).

Meanwhile, JD.com is expected to benefit from strong supply chain capabilities and potential upside in electronics trade-ins.

Jefferies also raised the price targets for the shares of Meituan (HK:3690 ), Tongcheng-Elong Holdings Ltd (HK:0780 ), Ke Holdings Inc (NYSE:BEKE ), Full Truck Alliance Co Ltd ADR (NYSE:YMM ), Bilibili (NASDAQ:BILI ), Kuaishou Technology (HK:1024 ), JD Logistics Inc (HK:2618 ), Kanzhun Ltd ADR (NASDAQ:BZ ), and Qifu Technology Inc DRC (NASDAQ:QFIN ).

The investment bank highlights that over the past two decades, rallies in the internet sector have been driven by critical events that led to changes in valuation methodology.

Recent policy measures triggered a significant sector rally. Jefferies rolls forward price targets to 2025 estimates, noting online shopping’s re-rating at low-end valuations, strong earnings visibility in local services and OTAs, and vertical leaders benefiting from market share gains.

Currently, China's internet sector trades at an average P/E of around 12x, a 40-50% discount to global peers.

Source: Investing.com