Will Alibaba make investors smile in New York as trade negotiators clash in Beijing?

Tomorrow in Beijing, Trump’s team of negotiators sits down with Xi’s men to discuss trade. Bloomberg reports that China has already stopped buying U.S. soybeans, while ZTE — the Chinese telecom manufacturer that the U.S. has just crippled with sanctions — is preparing to fight back, according to Caixin (paywall). It looks like both sides are set for a long fight.

But some anxious moneymen on Wall Street may have reason to smile later this week. Nasdaq published a note this morning:

China e-commerce leader Alibaba (BABA) reports quarterly earnings before the market open Friday, with expectations of ongoing double-digit growth.

Alibaba Group Holding Limited is expected to report earnings on 05/04/2018 before market open. The report will be for the fiscal Quarter ending March 2018. According to Zacks Investment Research, based on six analysts’ forecasts, the consensus EPS [earnings per share] forecast for the quarter is $0.70. The reported EPS for the same quarter last year was $0.39.

Zacks Equity Research, a firm that produces assessments of listed companies, cites Alibaba’s strength in it “core ecommerce business” and “strong mobile growth,” but gives the company’s shares a “hold” evaluation rather than “strong buy” or “buy.”

But The Street reports that “renowned short-seller Andrew Left and his Citron Research are taking another unpopular opinion,” and betting on Alibaba’s future: “Citron Research believes the most compelling growth story in the market is also the world’s most heavily shorted stock,” according to a statement from the firm.