Forget Amazon; This Company Could Actually Buy Target in 2018

Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) has experienced a spectacular past few months.

Cyber Monday 2017 topped Prime Day to become Amazon's biggest shopping day worldwide in company history as "hundreds of millions" of products were sold, according to TechCrunch.

And its stock has risen a whopping 58% since this time last year.

Now analysts are speculating that Team Bezos may add another prize to its collection: Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT).

But these analysts aren't seeing the bigger picture. The $40 billion price tag alone would be prohibitive. And when it comes to what Target would offer - an upscale consumer base and large retail spaces littered across the country - Amazon already got that for a third of the price with Whole Foods.

That's why our Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald sees an entirely different company taking on that deal.

One that he's long been recommending to his readers...

The Only Company Capable of Beating Amazon

We're talking about Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (Nasdaq: BABA), the Chinese e-commerce conglomerate that may give Amazon a run for its money. In fact, people call Alibaba "the Chinese Amazon" - but we think it could be even better.

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Keith talks Alibaba Takeover on "Varney & Co."

Alibaba was founded less than 20 years ago in China, yet it's grown to be the world's sixth-largest Internet company by revenue - and climbing.

The company has already battled with Amazon in places like India, and it's all but forced Bezos out of its home country of China.

So it's more than likely that it will make a play for the United States soon.

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"Alibaba is the only company that can take on Team Bezos and may actually - dare I say it - win," Keith told his Total Wealth subscribers in December. "Along the way, I think it's going to have to make one or more key mergers that catch investors by surprise..."

One of those key mergers is likely to be with Target Corp.

Here's why...

Alibaba's Global Expansion Could Begin with Target

"[Buying Target] is a means of acquiring U.S. distribution and an upscale consumer base at the same time," said Keith. Indeed, the average Target consumer is much more affluent than that of Wal-Mart - a point Keith has been making for several years.

What's more, the two companies have already begun to make moves that signal a convergence in the near future.

Target already sells products on Alibaba's "Tmall," which is the main platform for international businesses to sell brand-name goods to consumers in China.

And in a recent move, Alibaba hired Target's HR chief to head up its global expansion.

Even though its consumer base is robust, Target may have no choice but to sell out to a larger company within the next few years. That's because Target is, by nature, a middleman. According to Keith, that means that it (along with thousands of other retailers) is at significant risk of getting "Amazon-ed."

Alibaba may be the only way forward for the company.

Keith expects this deal to occur within the next 12 to 24 months. That means big profits for Alibaba - and for you, if you're ahead of the game.

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