Social Media and the Stock Market Talkwalker

When Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba went public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on September 19th, many people outside China were not even sure what its business entailed, much less what to expect from its stock performance. The platform mainly focuses on business-to-business sales, but also offers vendors an opportunity to sell their merchandise directly to customers. It also covers online payment services, taking care of almost all aspects of online sales.

Buzz increase towards IPO date

As can be expected, the buzz for Alibaba increased with the Initial Public Offering (IPO) drawing closer. After the conversation died down a little during early September, it increased drastically again towards the middle of the month. A peak was reached on September 16th with around 40,000 posts on the topic.

Valuation and stock price at the center of attention

A large part of the discussion around Alibaba focused on the IPO, the valuations and the stock prices prior to flotation. The valuation alone made for around 70% of the conversation. The initial pricing per Alibaba share was at $68. When trading began with a slight delay on Friday morning, the value had skyrocketed to $92.70. The current value of the company now is estimated to be around

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