This Contrarian Billionaire Is Pouring 37% of His Portfolio into China… Should You Buy His #1 Stock?

For a while, it seemed like Alibaba had gone poof… vanished, much like its founder, Jack Ma, who pulled a Hawk Tuah-level disappearing act back in 2020 after daring to criticize China’s financial regulators. Ma eventually resurfaced after three months (hopefully well-rested, because that’s a hell of a vacation), but Alibaba’s been mostly MIA ever since, at least as far as Wall Street excitement is concerned.

Now, Alibaba is making headlines again for two reasons. First of all, billionaire David Tepper, a hedge fund legend and way worse NFL team owner (judging by the state of the Carolina Panthers). Reports are that the guy just went all-in on Alibaba, making it the largest position in his $6.4 billion portfolio. Yes, you read that right… while most investors have been public about not wanting to touch Chinese stocks with a ten foot pole, Tepper is going all in similar to how they traded the farm and went all in on Bryce Young (let’s hope this works out better than that move).

Tepper’s Appaloosa Management ramped up its stake in Alibaba by 18% last quarter, even as Chinese stocks continued to fall under the weight of weak government stimulus and a flailing real estate sector. For context, Alibaba dropped 20% in Q4, and yet, Tepper looked at all the charts and said, “BUY.” In total, China-related stocks and ETFs now make up 37% of his entire portfolio… a serious vote of confidence in a market that’s had one foot in the grave and one foot on a banana peel for years.

Tepper also increased his JD.com holdings by 43% and piled into Chinese internet ETFs like KWEB and FXI, effectively betting his life savings that China’s economic rebound is almost a sure thing. Considering how Alibaba has recently skyrocketed nearly 30% in 2025 thanks to a new AI push, he might actually be onto something.

For years, Alibaba was the first name brought up when people discussed China's tech boom, only to get canceled by regulatory crackdowns and the general mystery of what happened to Jack Ma. But now, the company is making a play in AI that’s turning heads… and turning stock charts green.

Alibaba’s Qwen 2.5 Max AI model is outperforming Meta’s Llama and other big-name AI competitors in key benchmarks, solidifying its position as a serious player in the AI space. On top of that, Alibaba’s cloud business is aggressively expanding, competing with Amazon and Microsoft in a sector that underpins the AI revolution.

Even more surprising… Alibaba just secured a potential AI partnership with Apple, which could bring generative AI to iPhones in China. That news alone sent Alibaba’s stock soaring 46% since mid-January, as investors realized the company might not be dead after all.

The biggest issue hanging over Alibaba isn’t whether its AI efforts will pay off (although that’s a big one)... it’s the fact that investors still don’t fully trust Chinese tech stocks. The trade war with the U.S., ongoing regulatory uncertainties, and the lingering question of “will the Chinese government lock of Jack Ma for saying something stupid?” keep many on the sidelines. Even with the latest rally, Alibaba trades at just 12.2x forward earnings, way below its five-year average. That’s cheap for a company still dominating China’s e-commerce space and now trying to take over AI, too.

As much as I like to poke fun at Tepper’s NFL ownership tenure… Tepper’s hedge fund track record suggests he’s more genius than crazy… he’s been making bold, contrarian bets for decades, and they usually pay off. But going all in on Alibaba proves he believes that China’s stock market is undervalued and due for a comeback.

If he’s right? Alibaba might just be one of the best-value tech plays on the market. If he’s wrong? Well, at least he still owns the Panthers (which, let’s be real, might be the bigger risk here).

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Stock.News has positions in Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple.