AliCloud’s revenue to hit US$8.72 billion by 2020, says Morgan Stanley
Alibaba subsidiary to close gap on market leader Amazon Web Services, and become a key growth driver for its e-commerce parent
Alibaba Cloud (AliCloud), a subsidiary of e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba Group, is forecast to record revenue of nearly US$9 billion by 2020, closing the gap on global industry leader Amazon Web Services, and becoming a key growth driver for its parent.
“The foundation is set to transform Alibaba [Group] into a leading data commerce company,” Morgan Stanley equity analyst Robert Lin wrote in a new research note.
“We value AliCloud at US$39 billion ... and our new revenue forecast for AliCloud implies faster growth than that of Amazon Web Services.”
Shares in New York-listed Alibaba rose 2.76 per cent to reach US$76.28 at the close of US trading on Tuesday, after Morgan Stanley raised its target price for the world’s biggest e-commerce company to US$130.60 from US$119.30.
Philbert Shih, managing director at Canadian firm Structure Research, told the South China Morning Post earlier this month that his firm was projecting substantial growth for AliCloud “that would already be right at historical record highs for the cloud industry”.
Launched 10 years ago, Amazon Web Services’ calendar year 2020 revenue is projected to hit US$75.41 billion.
Structure Research estimated AliCloud to post revenue of US$7.08 billion during parent Alibaba’s fiscal year to March 31, 2020.
