Huge Losses in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA) Not Enough to Stop Billionaire Dan Loeb from Beating the Market

Loeb held nearly 10 million shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) valued at $1.04 billion in his fund’s portfolio at the end of 2014. The e-commerce giant was also spotted in the portfolios of Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital Management and George Soros‘ Soros Fund Management. Alibaba might continue to experience the same selling pressure on its stock as the post IPO-lockup period expired last month. The $212.27 billion company missed revenue estimates by 5.6% for its fiscal 2015, third quarter financial results. Analysts had expected the sales frenzy of Single’s Day to add to the company’s quarterly performance, which it did, but it also meant that sales got concentrated on that particular day with the rest of the quarter attracting less consumers. The company has also recently come under criticism from a Chinese government agency regarding the knockoff merchandise sold on its platforms.

Dow Chemical Co (NYSE:DOW) posted 6.15% returns during the first quarter. Third Point ‘s stake in the company amounts to 22 million shares valued at about $1.0 billion. Upon pressure from Loeb, Dow announced the separation of its petrochemicals business from its chemicals segment. The company is aiming to split its U.S. Gulf Coast Chlor-Alkali and Vinyl, Global Chlorinated Organics and Global Epoxy businesses and merge them with Olin Corporation (NYSE:OLN). According to the company, the tax efficient consideration of the deal stands at $5 billion. Daniel S. Och‘s Oz Management held 13.70 million shares of Dow Chemical Co (NYSE:DOW) valued at $624.93 million at the end of the fourth quarter.

Actavis plc (NYSE:ACT) appreciated the most, by 15.62%, which helped offset Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA)’s abysmal quarterly performance. With 3.45 million shares valued at $888.06 million, the holding represented 8.01% of the fund’s portfolio value. Another significant investor of the healthcare company is Andreas Halvorsen’s Viking Global, which also increased its stake by 80% on the quarter. Actavis plc (NYSE:ACT) recently completed its acquisition of Allergan for $66 billion.

Disclosure: None