That will give China 's largest e-commerce company room to raise the IPO price as it builds demand during meetings with fund managers, said Henry Guo, an analyst at JG Capital. "This is below Wall Street's expectations," said Guo, who is based in San Francisco. "They prefer a smoother start so that they can push up the prices." Alibaba may temper its valuation, some analysts said in July, which could help it avoid the listing flop of Facebook. Those analysts forecast that Alibaba would value itself at about $154 billion, after applying a discount. Facebook had a price tag of $104 billion at the time of its IPO in May 2012 and went on to lose half its market value as investors worried about slowing growth and the company's mobile strategy. The stock has since recovered. While Alibaba's IPO is coming amid growth in China's e-commerce market, investors now must weigh the risks of buying shares in the Hangzhou-based company.