Baidu (BIDU), HK 9888; 02 (Nov 22 - Dec 26)

[winston]

vested

Feb 13, 2025

<Foresight>Brokers Expect BIDU-SW 4Q24 Adj. NP to Fall 38% YoY; Focus on Mgmt Guidance (Update)

BIDU-SW (09888.HK) (BIDU.US) will announce its 4Q24 results after the Hong Kong equity market closes next Tuesday (18th), affected by the challenging macroeconomic environment in China and the joint venture NEV brand, Jiyue, etc..

Investors looked on management guidance, including the impact of AI investment on future margin, search transformation and core ad revenue commercialization progress, as well as the business outlook for AI Cloud (benefiting from generative AI and foundation model incremental and strong demand for GPU cloud).

Related NewsBrokers' Ratings, TPs for BIDU-SW (09888.HK) (Table)

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BIDU-SW's 4Q24 non-GAAP attributable net profit will range from RMB4.207 billion to RMB5.858 billion, down 24.5-45.8% YoY from RMB7.755 billion in 4Q23, according to 12 brokers' forecasts summarized by our reporters.

Median was RMB4.757 billion, down 38.7% YoY.

Broker│ 4Q24 Non-GAAP Attributable Net Profit Forecast (RMB)│YoY Change

Related NewsBrokers' Ratings, TPs for BIDU-SW (09888.HK) (Table) (Update)

CLSA│5.858 billion│-24.5%
Daiwa│5.668 billion│-26.9%
Goldman Sachs│5.23 billion│-35.7%
Citi│5.21 billion│-32.8%
Morgan Stanley│4.969 billion│-35.9%
JPMorgan│4.941 billion│-36.3%
Barclays│4.757 billion│-38.7%
CMBI│4.7 billion│-39.4%
CCBI│4.613 billion│-40.5%
Deutsche Bank AG│4.584 billion│-40.9%
UBS│4.329 billion│-44.2%
CICC│4.28 billion│-44.8%
Nomura│4.207 billion│-45.8%

Based on BIDU-SW's 4Q23 non-GAAP attributable net profit of RMB7.755 billion.

Source: AAStocks Financial News

http://www.aastocks.com/en/stocks/analy ... stock-news

[winston]

4Q24: Solid Earnings Beat And Strong AI Cloud Revenue Growth Outlook In 2025

Baidu’s 4Q24 earnings beat expectations.

Revenue dipped 2% yoy to Rmb34.1b, in line with consensus estimate.

Gross margin inched down 3ppt yoy to 47.2%, within consensus expectation.

Non-GAAP operating profit was Rmb5b, down 29% yoy, while non-GAAP operating profit margin came in at 15%.

Non-GAAP net profit plummeted 13% yoy to Rmb6.7b, albeit surpassing consensus estimate by 39%.

Maintain HOLD with an unchanged target price of HK$93.00 (US$103.00).

We lowered core ads revenue by 2% as we remain cautious on macro uncertainties as well as market share loss.

We raised EV/Sales multiples on AI Cloud from 3x to 4x in view of the strong 2025 AI Cloud revenue growth outlook and cloud sector upgrade.

Our target price implies 9x 2025F PE. The company is currently trading at 8.5x 2025F PE, below its historical mean of 14.5x.

Source: UOBKH

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://research.uobkayhian.com/content_download.jsp?id=83010&h=3d5cbcad747c5477f33557043b62bbeb&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-85GLIcB7tigTI1NJOKEw4Thg137dv4qwq8Q6eIQ-eDG2k1fDLHHel_jS_rc1qVQSob3UXRK1QRDShjIXJENrevI5_yRg&_hsmi=347936773&utm_content=347936773&utm_source=hs_email

[winston]

vested

Baidu Stock Falls As Ad Slump Weighs On Sales Despite AI Momentum

by RYAN DEFFENBAUGH

Online marketing revenue fell 7% year-over-year to 17.9 billion yuan, or $2.46 billion.

Source: IBD

https://www.investors.com/news/technolo ... src=A00220

[winston]

vested

Investors can buy the Chinese tech stock Baidu at an even cheaper price: a forward P/E of less than 9.

This can make for a fairly cheap artificial intelligence (AI) stock since it has been experiencing strong growth in that area of its business.

During the last three months of 2024, the company reported 26% revenue growth in its AI cloud business.

Although the overall business experienced a decline of 2% during the quarter, AI could be what lifts Baidu’s numbers in the future.

Its AI chatbot, Ernie, handled around 1.65 billion API calls in December, management says. And there are reports that it will unveil a next-generation AI model later this year.

Tech investors have been closely watching Chinese companies since DeepSeek released a low-cost AI model earlier in the year that is said to be on par with ChatGPT and other chatbots.

If Baidu can follow suit, that could not only generate a lot of bullishness around the stock but also help boost its AI business even further.

The company has been struggling to grow recently, but it hasn’t run out of catalysts by any stretch. As its AI business continues to grow, it could prove to be a stellar buy.

It may take some patience from investors since the uncertainty around a possible trade war between China and the U.S. could weigh on the stock over the near term.

But if you’re willing to buy now and hold for years, this could be one of the better AI stocks right now.

Source: TMF