Chinese stocks are back in focus after top U.S. and Chinese officials met in Stockholm in late July to extend their tariff truce by another 90 days. The move signals easing tensions and raises hopes of a broader trade deal ahead of the expected Trump–Xi meeting later this year. Amid this scenario, we used TipRanks’ Stock Comparison Tool to compare these two Chinese stocks, Alibaba (BABA) and Nio (NIO), to find the better pick ahead of the upcoming earnings results, according to Wall Street analysts.
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Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) Stock
Alibaba is China’s largest e-commerce and cloud-services company, operating platforms like Taobao, Tmall, and AliCloud. The stock has climbed over 40% so far this year, driven by strong gains in its AI-powered cloud services and growing demand for instant delivery. The company is doubling down on artificial intelligence, aiming to use it to transform online shopping and cloud services.
Looking ahead, the company is set to report its Q1 FY26 earnings later this month. Wall Street expects Alibaba to report earnings of $2.22 per share for Q1, down 3% from the year-ago quarter. The decline could be due to the company’s heavy investment in logistics and delivery. Meanwhile, analysts project Q1 revenues at $35.46 billion, up 6% year-over-year.
Is Alibaba Stock a Good Buy Right Now?
Ahead of the Q1 results, Mizuho’s Top analyst, Wei Fang, maintained an Outperform rating on the stock. He noted that consumer demand stayed strong during the June quarter, helped by promotional events and smartphone trade-in offers.
However, the four-star analyst lowered his price target from $160 to $149, pointing to growing concerns around profit margins. According to him, rising competition in China’s local commerce sector, especially in food delivery and instant retail, is beginning to hurt the company’s bottom line. As a result, Mizuho slashed its June-quarter EBITDA forecast from 55 billion RMB to 45 billion RMB.
Overall, Wall Street has a Strong Buy consensus rating on Alibaba stock based on 14 Buys and one Hold rating. The average Alibaba price target of $151.08 implies about 29% upside potential from current levels.
Nio (NYSE:NIO) Stock
Shares of electric vehicle maker Nio have gained 15% year-to-date, supported by optimism around its new Onvo L90 SUV and steady delivery performance in China’s competitive EV market. The L90, launched under Nio’s mass-market Onvo brand, is expected to boost the company’s revenue going forward.
Last week, Nio delivered 21,017 vehicles in July, marking a 2.5% increase from the same month last year. The company expects August numbers to get a lift from the rollout of the Onvo L90. Overall, for the second quarter, Nio’s deliveries rose nearly 26% year-over-year to 72,056 units.
Looking ahead, Nio is set to report its Q2 2025 earnings next month. Wall Street expects Nio to report a loss per share of $0.31 on revenues of $2.73 billion.
Is NIO Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Recently, Macquarie’s Top analyst, Eugene Hsiao, upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral and raised the 12-month price target to $5.5 from $3.9, reflecting renewed confidence in the Chinese EV maker’s product strategy. The 5-star analyst believes that the L90, priced at RMB 265.8k, is poised to be NIO’s most competitive offering.
Overall, Wall Street has a Hold consensus rating on NIO stock based on three Buys, five Holds, and one Sell assigned in the last three months. The average NIO stock price target of $4.68 implies 6.59% downside potential from current levels.
Conclusion
Ahead of earnings, Wall Street remains bullish on Alibaba stock. Analysts see greater upside potential in Alibaba in comparison to Nio stock. Wall Street’s bullish stance on Alibaba stock is supported by its strong fundamentals, expanding AI initiatives, and solid recovery in e-commerce business.