Alibaba ups share price ahead of highly anticipated IPO

E-commerce giant Alibaba’s share price has been increased to $66-68 ahead of its highly anticipated IPO.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has been one of the dominant forces in online trading for years, so it’s no surprise that its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) in New York is among the most hotly anticipated flotations this year. That excitement is rising even further now that the firm has upped the price range of its shares ahead of the IPO.

In its official filing, Alibaba says it now plans to increase its price range from the $60-66 dollar area it has previously mentioned.

Now, shares are set to be sold at anywhere between $66 and $68, which could mean the IPO raises over $25 billion.

Not only would that lend credence to market expectations that the share sale will be the biggest in US history, but it would point to Alibaba’s market value standing at an eye-watering $168 billion. That’s bigger than Amazon.

It might not be surprising, considering the fact that Alibaba’s various offerings account for 80 per cent of the total online retail sales in China. AliExpress, Taobao and Tmall are all very promising in their own right.

But it’s also a firm that’s growing quickly – a profit of $2 billion in the three months to June was driven by a 46 per cent rise in sales year on year – which has traders curious about just how far stocks in Alibaba could rise.

Considering that founder Jack Ma – who is set to visit the UK – recently said the IPO will be used to fund expansion into the US and Europe, there is every reason to believe that Alibaba could become a household name across a number of new markets very soon.

The price increase suggests that demand has already been high, and as the IPO approaches it is probably likely to rise further. But whether Alibaba is perform as strongly outside of China as it has within it remains to be seen.

As Fortune points out, Facebook, Google and eBay have all faced problems trying to operate in China, while relatively few Chinese firms have tapped into and thrived in US markets. Whatever happens to Alibaba, it will be fascinating to see how its expansion progresses.