Alibaba's Singles' Day Results Read Positive For December

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE: BABA)'s Singles' Day was a smashing success last week, as it sold $17.8 billion worth of products. By comparison, the company's gross merchandise volume (GMV) in 2015 totaled $14.3 billion.

Perhaps more impressively, Alibaba's GMV during 2013's event was $5.14 billion, which represents an amount that is now achievable for Alibaba in just one hour. As a result, Alibaba's event is titled as the world's biggest shopping event.

Youssef Squali: Early Positive Read Into December Quarter

Youssef Squali of Cantor Fitzgerald commented in a research report on Monday that Alibaba's one-day selling event provides an early positive read into the company's December-ending quarterly results and also serves as an indication of the resiliency of the Chinese consumer.

Squali added that the 32 percent year-over-year growth in GMV is consistent with what he was expecting but also represents a sharp slowdown from last year's 60 percent growth. Nevertheless, the analyst stated that the event is also important to reinforce Alibaba's brand and drive consumer engagement as opposed to just the dollar contributions.

Finally, Squali stated that Alibaba's move to combine media, technology and celebrities with the selling event (such as through live fashion shows) delivers to consumers an experience that other retailers in China find hard to replicate.

Bottom line, Alibaba proved that it can sustain its dominance within the Chinese e-commerce space, which justifies the analyst's Buy rating and $115 price target.

Despite the Singles' Day success, Alibaba was recently seen trading at $89.38, down 3.88 percent on the day.