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Rumors have been flying that the Alibaba IPO date could be set for Aug. 8, 2014, yet no official announcement has been made.
The Alibaba IPO was filed on May 6. Based on the typical timing for IPOs, the first week in August seems most likely for the Alibaba IPO.
Once the IPO was filed, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) began reviewing the company's F-1 documents. At the time, sources close to the deal told CNBC that Alibaba expected to hear back from the SEC around June 7.
The date Aug. 8 has been pegged in particular because of the importance of the number eight in Chinese culture.
In Chinese, the number eight can be pronounced as "ba," which sounds similar to "fa," the Chinese word for prosperity. Therefore, the number eight carries a reputation of good fortune in China, similar to the "lucky number seven" in American culture.
Likewise, the repetition of the "ba" in "Alibaba" has led many to believe 8/8 will be the official date for the highly anticipated IPO.
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A Bloomberg report citing unnamed sources said that Alibaba's co-founders Jack Ma and Joe Tsai both view the date as "auspicious." The same report indicated that company officials would like "BABA" as the company's ticker symbol.
Neither Ma nor Tsai have confirmed the tentative date, and while Aug. 8 has been predicted by many, it's far from certain. Any delay in the process could push the Alibaba IPO date back in August. Because of the size of the IPO, a delay would not be surprising.
Some estimates place the Alibaba IPO price over $20 billion, which would make it the largest IPO in U.S. history. In its filing, the company reported profits of $3.2 billion on $6.5 billion in revenue for the first nine months of the current fiscal year.
While the company hasn't actively promoted an IPO date, the company has been busy making some interesting acquisitions...