Alibaba has finally made its entrance. But for Yahoo investors, the exit beckons.
阿里巴巴(Alibaba)终于登场。然而对雅虎(Yahoo)投资者而言，退场的铃声响起了。
Alibaba Group Holding filed for an initial public offering late Tuesday. Shares of Yahoo, which owns a 22.6% stake in the Chinese e-commerce giant and has been the primary way for U.S. investors to participate in its growth, slid the following day.
阿里巴巴集团周二晚间提交了首次公开募股(IPO)申请。雅虎股价第二天便下滑。雅虎持有这家中国电子商务巨头22%的股份，也是美国投资者分享阿里巴巴增长的主要途径。
Alibaba's filing showed it had 231 million active buyers and sales of $248 billion across its three retail sites in 2013. It also disclosed that last month, the company valued itself at $121 billion, including stock-based compensation and the conversion of certain preferred shares. Analyst estimates for its valuation range from $136 billion to $250 billion. Beyond that, though, the filing was scant on details investors crave, such as a breakdown of Alibaba's individual business units and more information about affiliate Alipay.
阿里巴巴的文件显示，2013年该公司三个零售网站共有2.31亿活跃买家，交易额总计为2,430亿美元。阿里巴巴还披露，上个月该公司对自身的估值为1,210亿美元，其中包括股票薪酬和某些优先股的转换。分析人士预计其估值在1,360亿美元至2,500亿美元之间。但除此之外，阿里巴巴的文件缺乏投资者渴望了解的细节，比如阿里巴巴各项业务的细分和有关支付宝(Alipay)业务的更多信息。
In summary: Alibaba is just as huge as everyone thought it was.
总的来说：阿里巴巴的规模之巨与所有人想像的一样。
That is actually underwhelming for Yahoo's investors because Alibaba has already juiced the U.S. company's shares. These are up 122% over the past two years, against 38% for the Nasdaq Composite. Alibaba's growth explains most of this given that Yahoo's core Internet advertising business has faced declining revenues.
这对雅虎的投资者来说实在不算什么，因为阿里巴巴早已推高了雅虎的股价。过去两年中，雅虎上涨了122%，同期纳斯达克综合指数升幅为38%。鉴于雅虎核心互联网广告业务的收入一直在下滑，阿里巴巴的增长是促成雅虎股价上涨的主要原因。
Granted, Yahoo only has to part with about 9% of Alibaba in the IPO. It can retain the rest of its stake, the value of which could continue to bolster its stock.
当然，雅虎在阿里巴巴IPO过程中只需出售约9%的股权。雅虎能够保留剩下的持股，而这部分股份的价值或继续支撑雅虎股价。
At that point, though, investors will be able to own Alibaba directly. An added incentive to lose the middleman is the fear that Yahoo's investors won't see much of the Alibaba sale proceeds. Chief Executive Marissa Mayer has said Yahoo would be 'good stewards' of its capital and continue its strategy of making acquisitions, leaving other moves--buybacks, perhaps?--up to the discretion of its board.
但阿里巴巴上市时，投资者就可以直接持有该股。抛开雅虎这个中间人的进一步动因是外界担心，购买雅虎的股票不如直接投资阿里巴巴更能从后者的销售业绩中受益。雅虎的首席执行长玛丽莎・梅耶尔(Marissa Mayer)曾表示，雅虎将是资本的“好管家”，将继续执行其收购策略，并保留采取其他行动（可能是指回购）的余地。所有这些都将取决于董事会的考量。
Alibaba's filing merely confirmed the excitement already baked into Yahoo's valuation. It has also brought home the reality that Yahoo's days as a Chinese e-commerce tracking stock are numbered.
阿里巴巴的上市申请只是印证了雅虎价值中已经体现的欣喜。但同时也让人意识到这样的现实：即雅虎作为一只中国电子商务巨头追踪股的日子已经屈指可数了。