BABA vs IQ vs SPOT Stock Comparison

Alibaba Group Holding, iQIYI and Spotify Technology Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
BABA Alibaba Group Holding Ltd
$100.26 -8.7% 1M -42.6% 1Y
Market cap
$232.86B
P/E
22.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$150.46B
Div. yield
1.05%
Digital Marketplaces Technology
5 wins
IQ iQIYI, Inc.
$0.88 -13.7% 1M -59.6% 1Y
Market cap
$849.12M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$3.71B
Div. yield
–
Streaming Technology

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Alibaba Group Holding leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Alibaba Group Holding 5, Spotify Technology 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBABAIQSPOTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $232.86B $849.12M $117.75B BABA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 22.1x -3.2x 34.2x BABA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 14.3x — 44.0x BABA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.1% -3.2% +17.0% SPOT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 7.0% -3.2% 15.7% SPOT
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 2.4% -0.8% — BABA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.05% — — –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -42.6% -59.6% -11.4% SPOT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -9.9%/yr -36.8%/yr +15.9%/yr SPOT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.4% 50.7% 46.4% BABA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 46/100 30/100 66/100 SPOT

Percentile Scorecard

BABAIQSPOT

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisBABAIQSPOT
Valuation 71 #27 of 90 72 #26 of 90 42 #53 of 90
Growth 12 #66 of 75 0 #75 of 75 97 #3 of 75
Profitability 54 #35 of 75 28 #54 of 75 82 #14 of 75
Financial Health 55 #45 of 99 18 #81 of 99 80 #21 of 99
Shareholder Returns 37 #23 of 36 – 29 #26 of 36
Overall 46 30 66
  • BABA ranked among 102 companies in Internet Platforms
  • IQ ranked among 102 companies in Internet Platforms
  • SPOT ranked among 102 companies in Internet Platforms

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodBABAIQSPOTSPY
1 month -8.7%-13.7%+12.3% -0.8%
3 months -12.8%-28.5%+15.7% +3.5%
6 months -24.3%-20.7%+15.4% +7.0%
Year to date -31.6%-54.2%-1.5% +12.2%
1 year -42.6%-59.6%-11.4% +13.0%
3 years +21.1%-81.7%+259.0% +86.3%
3 years, per year +6.6%-43.2%+53.2% +23.1%
5 years -40.8%-89.9%+109.5% +68.6%
5 years, per year -9.9%-36.8%+15.9% +11.0%
10 years -2.5%—— +258.0%
10 years, per year -0.2%—— +13.6%

Risk

MeasureBABAIQSPOTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.4%50.7%46.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 36.0%52.9%44.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.111.260.30 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -1.06-1.18-0.25 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -62.9%-90.5%-76.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -44.3%-62.6%-14.1% -1.8%
52-week high $179.97$2.35$665.67 $779.14
52-week low $94.81$0.86$412.75 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleBABAIQSPOT
P/E now vs peer median 22.1xmedian 17.9x -3.2xmedian 17.9x 34.2xmedian 17.9x
P/S now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 1.7x 0.2xmedian 1.7x 5.4xmedian 1.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 11.8x —median 11.8x 32.1xmedian 11.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 7.0xmedian 10.1x 12.8xmedian 10.1x 31.9xmedian 10.1x
P/B now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 1.2x 0.5xmedian 1.2x 11.9xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median -15.35median 0.38 0.08median 0.38 0.41median 0.38

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsBABAIQSPOT
Revenue $150.46B $3.71B $21.85B
Gross profit $57.45B $665.38M $7.24B
Operating income $4.39B -$57.57M $3.19B
Net income $10.08B -$89.99M $3.44B
Free cash flow $33.19B $66.12M $3.69B
R&D $10.68B $233.12M $1.67B
EPS (diluted) $4.38 $-0.05 $16.34
Cash & equivalents $21.06B $471.90M $6.84B
Total debt $83.76B $3.74B –
Shares (diluted) 2.40B 2.36B 210.51M
Enterprise value $54.93B -$1.53B $74.67B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricBABAIQSPOT
P/E 22.1x -3.2x 34.2x
P/FCF 7.0x 12.8x 31.9x
P/Operating cash flow 20.6x 18.4x 31.2x
P/S 1.5x 0.2x 5.4x
P/B 1.4x 0.5x 11.9x
P/Tangible book 1.5x 0.5x 11.9x
EV/EBITDA – – 32.1x
EV/EBIT 48.0x -22.3x 33.4x
EV/Revenue 1.4x 0.3x 4.9x
EV/FCF 6.3x 19.5x 28.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 18.6x 27.9x 28.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -15.35 0.08 0.41

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBABAIQSPOT
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.1% -3.2% 17.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.6% -6.2% 17.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 0.2% -24.2% 22.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 6.5% -18.0% 28.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) -77.5% -150.6% 45.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -35.9% -29.2% 91.3%
Net income growth (1Y) -50.0% -239.9% 117.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -3.6% -39.2% 86.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -47.9% -1,091% 113.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -1.4% -39.0% 82.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -45.8% -69.5% 15.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -27.8% -52.2% 152.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -8.5% -57.7% 12.1%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.6% -46.4% 166.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBABAIQSPOT
Gross margin 38.2% 17.9% 33.1%
EBITDA margin – – 15.2%
Operating margin 2.9% -1.6% 14.6%
Pretax margin 9.7% -2.1% 18.0%
Net margin 7.0% -3.2% 15.7%
FCF margin 22.1% 1.8% 16.9%
Operating cash flow margin 7.5% 1.2% 17.3%
Return on equity 6.2% -4.8% 35.3%
Return on assets 3.6% -1.3% 21.5%
Return on invested capital 2.4% -0.8% –
Return on capital employed 2.1% -1.6% 20.0%
Asset turnover 0.5x 0.6x 1.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.1x -0.5x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue 1.1% – 1.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBABAIQSPOT
Debt / assets 7.5% 15.6% –
Debt / equity 0.1x 0.6x –
Net debt / EBITDA – – –
Debt / FCF 0.6x 15.8x –
Liabilities / assets 43.6% 72.3% 38.9%
Equity / assets 56.4% 27.7% 61.1%
Interest coverage 3.2x -0.5x 3.0x
Current ratio 1.4x 0.4x –
Quick ratio 0.6x 0.3x 223.0x
Cash ratio 0.6x 0.2x 206.0x
Altman Z-score 2.30 -1.06 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBABAIQSPOT
Dividend yield 1.0% – –
Net buyback yield – – -0.6%
Shareholder yield 1.0% – -0.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusBABAIQSPOT
Forward P/E 14.3xFY2026 – 44.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $7.00FY2026 $-0.07FY2026 $12.99FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +80.4%FY2026 -275.0%FY2026 +5.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +23.1% – +37.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $173.86BFY2026 $3.56BFY2026 $21.04BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +17.2%FY2026 -8.8%FY2026 +4.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +14.7% +3.5% +27.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBABAIQSPOT
Held by institutions 10.1% 26.0% 65.9%
Institutions holding 1,218 128 1,235
Change in shares held, QoQ -5.4% -5.6% +1.1%
Institutions buying 555 57 615
Institutions selling 421 40 480
Buyers to sellers 1.32 1.43 1.28

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

BABAIQSPOT
BABA 1.00 0.31 0.10
IQ 0.31 1.00 0.08
SPOT 0.10 0.08 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BABA, IQ and SPOT?

Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) $232.86B, iQIYI (IQ) $849.12M, Spotify Technology (SPOT) $117.75B.

Which stock is cheaper, BABA, IQ and SPOT?

Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) 22.1x, iQIYI (IQ) -3.2x, Spotify Technology (SPOT) 34.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) is cheapest (Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) 14.3x, Spotify Technology (SPOT) 44.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Spotify Technology (SPOT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) +8.1%, iQIYI (IQ) -3.2%, Spotify Technology (SPOT) +17.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Spotify Technology (SPOT) has the highest net margin (Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) 7.0%, iQIYI (IQ) -3.2%, Spotify Technology (SPOT) 15.7%). On return on invested capital, Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) leads (Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) 2.4%, iQIYI (IQ) -0.8%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Spotify Technology (SPOT) returned the most: Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) -42.6%, iQIYI (IQ) -59.6%, Spotify Technology (SPOT) -11.4%. Over five years, Spotify Technology (SPOT) compounded fastest (Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) -9.9%/yr, iQIYI (IQ) -36.8%/yr, Spotify Technology (SPOT) +15.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) 1.05%. iQIYI (IQ) and Spotify Technology (SPOT) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) has been the steadiest (Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) 40.4%, iQIYI (IQ) 50.7%, Spotify Technology (SPOT) 46.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, BABA, IQ and SPOT?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.