Alibaba ( NYSE: BABA ) shares fell as much as 10% Friday after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission added the Chinese Internet and e-commerce giant to its list of companies facing possible delisting from U.S. stock markets.
According to a report from Bloomberg, the SEC placed Alibaba ( BABA ) among group of Chinese companies that face the potential of being delisted due to Beijing not allowing U.S. officials to review the work of those companies' auditors. The U.S. law was passed in 2020 and gives companies a three-year window to abide by its guidelines or risk their shares being delisted.
Alibaba ( BABA ) has also been in the spotlight this week after the Wall Street Journal reported that Jack Ma--Alibaba's ( BABA ) founder and one of the most prominent Chinese tech sector leaders--will cede his control of financial services technology company, Ant Group , an Alibaba ( BABA ) affiliate. Ma is said to be making the move to appease Chinese business regulators who have been pressuring the nation's tech giants for more than a year over matters such as their business practices and management of their customers' personal data.
Alibaba ( BABA ) is also slated to deliver its June quarter results prior to the start of trading on Aug. 4. Analysts estimate the company will say it earned $1.56 a share on $30.2B for the quarter.
Along with Alibaba ( BABA ), other losses came from Tencent ( OTCPK:TCEHY ), down by more than 5%; Bilibili ( BILI ), which fell more than 4%, Baidu ( BIDU ), off by almost 3%; NetEase ( NTES ), down by more than 3%; Pinduoduo ( PDD ), which also slipped by 4%, and Weibo ( WB ), down by more than 4% in afternoon trading.
On top of the report that Ma will give up his stake in Ant Group, Alibaba ( BABA ) also got some attention earlier this week as it said it would apply for a primary stock listing in Hong Kong .
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Alibaba slumps 10% as SEC adds Chinese tech giant to list of companies facing delisting