(NYSE: BABA), China's largest e-commerce and cloud company, went public at $68 per American depositary share (ADS) on Sept. 18, 2014. It was valued at $169.4 billion upon its debut, making it the largest U.S. initial public offering (IPO) ever. Its stock hit an all-time high of $312.87 on Oct. 27, 2020. But on Jan. 18, its stock closed just barely above its IPO price at $68.05.

It has bounced back to $74 as of this writing, but that's still well below its record highs. What happened?

Three challenges drove away the bulls. China's antitrust regulators tightened their grip on Alibaba's e-commerce business; growing competitors like PDD Holdings' Pinduoduo lured away its merchants and shoppers; and macro headwinds throttled the growth of its online marketplaces and cloud-based services. Rising interest rates and delisting threats for U.S.-listed Chinese stocks only exacerbated that sell-off.

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Source Fool.com