Baidu (BIDU); HK 9888

[winston]

not vested

Baidu Inc (BIDU US / 9888 HK) - Good underlying momentum

Baidu’s 1Q21 results came in above expectations.

Non-GAAP net income grew 39% YoY to RMB4.3b or RMB12.38 in terms diluted earnings per ADS, which came in 16% above consensus.

Baidu is guiding for 2Q21 revenue to come in between RMB29.7b – RMB32.5b, or 14%-25% YoY, with the midpoint of RMB31.1b being 3% higher than consensus.

Baidu’s AI Cloud grew 55% YoY in 1Q21 (67% YoY in 4Q20), which management attributes to a high base in 1Q20, and believes that it will be able to grow at a rate higher than that moving forward based on its pipeline.

Smart transportation also remains a significant opportunity given the network effect it creates as Baidu makes inroads into more cities.

On intelligent driving, despite the EV scene becoming more crowded, management remains confident on Jidu Auto’s prospects and opines that it will possess the best user experience and price-to-performance ratio when launched, given its years of investment in autonomous driving.

On the advertising side, we note that most of Baidu’s top ad verticals performed well with CPM up double-digits.

Management did highlight that given the ramp of 2B (e.g. AI Cloud) and 2G (e.g. smart transportation) businesses, overall margins would get impacted, given the relatively slower growth but higher margin business in the mobile ecosystem search and feed.

Taking this into account and following adjustments, we reduce our FV from USD355 to USD319 (BIDU US) / HKD344 to HKD309 (9888 HK). BUY.

Source: OCBC

[winston]

not vested

BIDU(9888)

Analysis：

Baidu (9888.HK) is a leading AI company with a strong internet foundation.

The group brings innovation across many sectors, including marketing cloud, enterprise cloud, smart transportation, autonomous driving, smart assistant and AI chi, through decade-long investment in AI.

Recently, on 18th May, the Group has announced its financial results for the first quarter ended 31st March 2021.

The Group`s total revenue was RMB 28.134 billion, yoy increase of 25% but a decline of 7% quarterly, its core total reve nue was RMB 20.483 billion.

But the net income to the group is 25.653 billion, an increase of 624.68 times yoy and 3.96 times quarter-to-quarter.

The Group`s core business performed strongly in the first quarter, with revenue increasing by 34% yoy, due to a 70% yoy increase in non-advertising revenue.

Based on the “X+Y” strategic business layout, the company expanded its user scale through multiple user portal products such as Baidu App and iQiyi.

As of March, the number of Baidu App`s monthly actively users reached 558 million, and the daily logged-in users accounted for over 75%.

Strategy：
Buy-in Price: $182.00, Target Price: $206.00, Cut Loss Price: $170.00

Source: Phillips

[winston]

not vested

Baidu (BIDU)

Baidu is one of the more beaten down Chinese tech companies, but it still presents a tremendous growth opportunity for patient investors.

Often referred to as “China’s Google,” BIDU just reported blowout quarterly results on the strength of its growing diversification into areas like cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous driving.

Baidu said its revenue rose 25% to 28.13 billion yuan ($4.38 billion) in Q1, boosted by non-marketing revenue growth of 70%.

Moreover, this tech giant continues to hold its own with its widely used search engine, despite growing competition from rivals like Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) and Bytedance.

Baidu is also riding high on the strength of its streaming platform, iQiyi, which posted an increase in revenue during the quarter. That platform’s subscribers even grew to a total of 105.3 million users in the quarter.

The bottom line: Baidu is firing on all cylinders.

Despite its success, BIDU stock has been knocked down 46% since its mid-February high. It now sits at around $191 per share. However, the company’s continued strengths should pull the stock higher.

Source: Investor Place

[winston]

not vested

Now’s a Great Time to Buy This Stock (Pick Up Shares on the Cheap)

by Louis Navellier

The company’s plays in artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing and electric vehicles (EVs) are set to put BIDU stock on the path to long-term growth.

Baidu AI cloud differentiating with AI solutions grew 67% year over year in Q4, reaching an annualized run rate of US$2.0 billion.”

Source: InvestorPlace

https://dailytradealert.com/2021/06/05/ ... the-cheap/

[winston]

not vested

Baidu, Inc. (BIDU)

The next Tepper pick comes from China.

Baidu’s holds more than 76% of the search engine market share in China, making it the world’s second-largest search engine, and it is investing heavily in AI initiatives. The company has a market cap of $64 billion.

So Baidu is big. It hit $4.3 billion in top-line revenue for 1Q21, up 25% year-over-year. Diluted EPS, at $11.66, was light-years ahead of the year-ago value of 1 cent, and up 404% from the $2.31 reported in 4Q20.

David Tepper, for his part, has taken a slow step into this stock, with an initial position of 45,000 shares purchased during the first quarter. This bloc of shares is worth $8.83 million at current prices.

5-star analyst Fawne Jiang, from Benchmark, writes of BIDU: “We are positive on the long-term growth prospects of AI-powered businesses in China, and BIDU is poised to benefit from the favorable industry trends as a leading AI player. We believe BIDU is well-positioned to grow into a meaningfully expanded TAM capitalizing on growth opportunities in cloud, smart transportation, intelligent driving and other AI initiatives.”

To this end, Jiang rates BIDU stock a Buy, with a $370 price target to indicate an upside of ~95% in the next 12 months.

The word of the Street is an overwhelmingly bullish one for this tech stock, as TipRanks analytics exhibit BIDU as a Strong Buy. Out of 19 analysts polled in the last 3 months, 16 say Buy while the other 3 say Hold.

With a return potential of 62%, the stock’s consensus target price stands at $308.13.

Source: Tip Ranks

[winston]

not vested

What Makes Baidu A “Strong Buy”?

by Shrilekha Pethe

In the first quarter, BIDU earned total revenues of $4.29 billion, up 25% year-over-year.

The company’s Baidu Core posted revenues of $3.13 billion, an increase of 34% year-over-year while online marketing revenue was $2.48 billion, up 27% year-over-year.

Non-marketing revenue in Q1 was $646 million, up 70% year-over-year, with growth was largely driven by BIDU’s cloud services and solutions.

The company reported net income of $3.92 billion, with diluted earnings of $11.26 per ADS.

In Q2, BIDU expects revenues of between $4.5 billion and $5 billion, indicating a year-over-year growth rate ranging from 14% to 25%.

Consensus among analysts on Wall Street is a Strong Buy based on 16 Buys and 3 Holds. The BIDU average analyst price target of $308.13 implies approximately 62% upside potential to current levels.

Source: Tip Ranks

https://www.tipranks.com/news/article/w ... =story_fri

[winston]

not vested

Valuation

We revised down our target price to US$307 from US$364 based on an unchanged SOTP methodology to reflect lower FY22F earnings as Baidu ramps up its investments in R&D and S&M for future growth.

We also introduce HK$299 TP for the HK-listed shares.

Source: DBS

https://www.dbs.com.sg/treasures/aics/s ... 888_HK.xml

[winston]

not vested

Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU)

Chinese internet search giant Baidu is focusing heavily on powering its AI-business growth and is investing in sales, R&D (research & development), and operations.

During the last reported quarter, Baidu delivered revenue growth of 25% year-over-year. Furthermore, its adjusted operating income surged 204%.

Following the Q1 performance, Oppenheimer analyst Bo Pei maintained his Buy rating as he believes that AI revenue acceleration supports Baidu’s re-rating. The analyst maintains a price target of $355 (95.7% upside potential) on the stock.

Overall, 17 Wall Street analysts have weighed in on Baidu shares in the past three months, giving the stock 14 Buys and 3 Holds for a Strong Buy consensus rating.

The average Baidu price target of $304.40 implies approximately 67.8% upside potential to current level.

Source: Tip Ranks

[winston]

Baidu: Oversold And Undervalued, Buy The Dip

by Victor Dergunov

Summary

Certain factors make Baidu unique.

Baidu is the Google of China in many ways.

Yet, the company also owns a controlling share in a Netflix-like venture.

Baidu also has bright prospects in the artificial intelligence space.

However, what makes Baidu most unique is that the company's stock is extremely cheap right now.

Source: Seeking Alpha

https://seekingalpha.com/article/443924 ... must_reads

[winston]

not vested

Baidu's current Total Cash per Share is $482.43.
Its Total Debt is 82.68B, and its current share price is $164.26.

The 17 Wall Street analysts following Baidu see its shares trading at an average price of $288.07 12 months from now, with a high forecast of $370.00 and a low forecast of $156.00.

The average Baidu price target represents a 75.37% change from the last price of $164.26.

Source: Tip Ranks