The Few Bets That Matter
Concentrated Equity Investor, AI Infrastructure
Alibaba is tough to hold because it is splitting investment between e-commerce and AI, creating massive execution risk. AI is so capex-hungry that, as Western examples show, Alibaba cannot spread spending and still reach comparable results. The market sees China e-commerce spending, including the quick-commerce race, as having no ROI, and is right. Replies argue Alibaba has no choice; it might still make it, but the risk is that its AI push slows. x.com x.com x.com
Alibaba's full AI stack is not yet working economically: it loses $4 for every $1 of revenue, and that is the whole thesis risk. AI Labs lost RMB13.9B, cloud profit covers only 41% of that hole, and commerce is still funding the entire AI build. The cloud business works; the full AI stack does not yet. x.com
Alibaba's $10.2 billion Hong Kong share placement shows its cash burn has caught up with it, and more dilution is likely. Core China ecommerce makes roughly $30 billion of flat EBIT, half of it reinvested in quick commerce to defend share against PDD. Cloud and AI earns $2 billion of EBIT growing 35% but burns about $10 billion a year in AI-model opex. Pro forma EBIT of about $7 billion collapses after $20-25 billion of annual capex, so Alibaba will keep tapping equity markets. x.com
Alibaba is the cleanest public-market bet that Chinese AI labs are innovating rather than just distilling, and that cheaper models drive more usage. If China is innovating, Qwen drives Alibaba Cloud share; if Jevons paradox holds, Alibaba captures the spend across models, compute, data, chips and apps. AI products are already 30% of Alibaba Cloud's external revenue, above a $5B run rate, and the commerce cash engine can carry it through the capex/revenue mismatch. x.com
Alibaba's HK$80 billion share sale looks like a grab-the-money-and-run move before the AI party ends, with base rates set to go ballistic as in 1972-1973. @AKL_019 notes the HK$112.70 price is 39.5% below the 52-week high, and asks why it didn't raise money in late 2025 or early 2026. @stevehou notes Alibaba is selling stock for AI without new highs or market validation of its AI efforts. In capital markets, the stupid but practical reason is usually the right one, as with SpaceX's fundraising. … Show more
Alphabet's surging AI capex is outpacing its payoff. Its first double earnings miss in four years came with free cash flow of -$9.1 billion versus -$2.7 billion expected, long-term debt up 479% in a year to $125.1 billion, and guidance for significantly higher 2027 capex above $300 billion. x.com x.com
Alibaba offers opportunity at $123 as a front-runner in China's AI buildout, particularly if its AI spending shows real returns and it proves it can compete with the US. Over $56 billion of AI and cloud investment over three years has made current free cash flow negative, like US hyperscalers. Cloud growth is expected near 45%, AI products are already 30% of external cloud revenue, and it holds $38 billion of net cash. Cloud growth, capex and guidance will drive the earnings reaction. x.com
Alphabet's AI spending is visibly turning into revenue, more than many other names can say today. Cloud is nearly a quarter of revenue, growing 103% at a 36% operating margin with a $561B backlog; total revenue rose 25%, operating income 30%, and margins are expanding. Free cash flow has been negative for two quarters, capex keeps climbing into 2027, and AI leaves search monetization uncertain. x.com
Alibaba's HK$80 billion share placement, the largest in Hong Kong history, dilutes shareholders to fund AI just as the market rewards free cash flow and buybacks. Q2 free cash flow was -44.7 billion with capex of 67.7 billion, and the food-delivery war burned 80-100 billion, about what the placement raises. Selling shares after buying back at ~$97/ADS recasts a value stock as a growth bet. The deal was oversubscribed at a modest discount; the test is whether per-share free cash flow rises. x.com … Show more
Alibaba is a contrarian trade because accelerating demand for relatively cheaper compute is very underappreciated, and China's cloud market is still in its infancy versus the US. Alibaba is a consensus short as upside from closed-source AI looks illusory. x.com x.com
Diversified cash flows in the billions make the AI-buildout basket more appealing than standalone model companies. Many members look reasonably priced and have longer records of delivering returns; Anthropic and OpenAI look much more like gambles at current valuations, though either could appeal at the right price. A possible equal-weight portfolio to revisit in five years includes Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle and SpaceX. x.com x.com
