Exchange traded funds heavy on Chinese Internet and technology names were not immune to the recent equity market rout in Asia’s largest economy. Over the past month, the KraneShares CSI China Internet Fund (NasdaqGM: KWEB) and the Guggenheim China Technology ETF (NYSEArca: CQQQ) are off an average of 14%.
However, with the stocks held by CQQQ and KWEB battered and bruised, it might be time to revisit Chinese Internet names along with the aforementioned ETFs even with marquee names such as Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), Baidu (NasdaqGS: BIDU) and Tencent (OTCBB: TCEHY) in correction territory after recent double-digit slides.
“Analysts’ mean price target for Nasdaq-listed Baidu is $250, compared with a price of $189 on July 9. Tencent offers still more theoretical upside, with a consensus target of 206 Hong Kong dollars (US$26.57) against a current HK$146 for its Hong Kong–listed stock,” reports Craig Mellow for Barron’s.
The $76.3 million KWEB allocates a combined 18.4% of its weight to Tencent and Baidu while the rival CQQQ, which has $82.1 million in assets, devotes a combined 19.5% of its weight to those Chinese Internet giants. [China Internet ETF Staves Off Alibaba Slump]
As has been frequently noted in the past, there is a strong long-term bull case for Chinese Internet names. China eRetailing sales topped $410 billion in 2013 and is projected to reach $650 billion by 2020; a 59% increase in sales and 4.3% of Chinese retail sales occur over the Internet, according to KraneShares. That is nearly quadruple the U.S. number.