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Luke Kawa

Alibaba slumps after rival JD.com starts $1.4 billion program to boost its food delivery business

Shares of Alibaba are sliding after JD.com announced it would spend at least $1.4 billion to boost its nascent food delivery business, JD Delivery.

“JD.com’s new two-pronged food delivery inventive program underscores its goal to be the go-to platform for reputable brands, while fighting with Meituan and Alibaba’s Taobao Instant Commerce for volume,” Bloomberg Intelligence senior analyst Catherine Lim wrote.

For years, China has been the poster child for aggressive investment that leads to excess capacity — primarily when it comes to tradable goods (electric vehicles, for instance). So it’s perhaps unsurprising that Beijing may not look as kindly on the broadening of domestic, consumer-oriented services. A commentary in the state-run People’s Daily argued that there will be no “winners” in this campaign, and that this can lead to irrational consumption.

Earlier this year, Alibaba brought its food delivery and online travel services units under the umbrella of its core e-commerce unit, and before that, it added a rapid-delivery option for its Taobao Instant Commerce service.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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