The upcoming float of Alibaba (the largest internet IPO of all time) is all about valuation. Alibaba is a pretty clean business in terms of what it actually does. The business model is widely known and it's already very profitable. Valuation will be the big question. At the high end of the range it would be priced at 40 times based on trailing 12-month earnings to June, adjusting for one-off items and the new shares issued at the IPO. We would not compare it to Amazon's current valuation as investors there are already factoring in the business moving into profitability.