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

[winston]

not vested

Baidu founder Robin Li warns new businesses are still bleeding cash, looks to sharpen company’s focus on profits

The Baidu co-founder and chief executive said many of the company’s new businesses are still loss-making operations

The internet and AI giant has struggled to eke out a profit from high-profile investments such as autonomous driving

by Che Pan

Source: SCMP

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/arti ... anys-focus

[winston]

not vested

Baidu said to be slashing jobs, trimming bonuses at intelligent driving unit

A Baidu employee confirmed to the Post that the Chinese internet search giant is laying off workers at its Intelligent Driving Group (IDG)

The alleged job cuts come days after company co-founder and CEO Robin Li Yanhong warned that the tech giant needs to sharpen its focus on profits

by Che Pan

ACE smart transport solutions have been adopted by 63 cities in China, up from 24 a year ago, with each having a contract value of over 10 million yuan, according to Baidu’s third-quarter financial results.

The ACE unit has been struggling to turn a profit, partly because many customers – most of them local governments – demanded customised solutions.

Baidu’s robotaxis and solutions for carmakers have also proved difficult to monetise, with competitors such as Huawei Technologies Co and other autonomous driving system developers swarming the connected-cars sector.

Meanwhile, self-driving taxi services still face major obstacles in commercialisation, with rides being restricted to certain areas and fares being set at well under what human drivers charge for on-demand services.

Source: SCMP

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/arti ... iving-unit

[winston]

vested

Baidu Inc (9888 HK)
4Q22 Results Preview: Soft 4Q22 Earnings; Growth Set To Accelerate In 2023

Baidu’s 4Q22 results will be released in March; we expect soft revenue growth for the advertising and AI cloud businesses due to the COVID-19 infection wave that hit in 4Q22.

However, we expect Baidu’s revenue and profit growth to accelerate in 2023 on a better macro environment and narrowing losses from new initiatives;

We forecast 12% yoy growth in sales and 15% yoy growth in net profit for 2023.

Maintain BUY. Target price raised to HK$179.00.

Source: UOBKH

https://research.uobkayhian.com/content ... 532c3cb062

[winston]

vested

Baidu AI Cloud Reported to Provide 'ERNIE Bot' API for Users in May

BIDU-SW (09888.HK) revealed at an internal sharing session that its artificial intelligence chatbot "ERNIE Bot" will be incorporated into the group's search engine, which would revolutionize the search experience of users; offer a brand-new interactive model; produce unique generative content; expand the application scenarios and market scale; and enable the group to access previously untapped user traffic, Chinese media reported.

Additionally, Baidu AI Cloud was expected to provide an API for "ERNIE Bot" to users in May, the report added.

Source: AAStocks Financial News

http://www.aastocks.com/en/stocks/news/ ... t-news/HK6

[winston]

vested

G Sachs' Forecasts on BIDU-SW 2022 Results (Table)

2023/02/17

Result Items│2022E│YoY Change
Total revenue│RMB121.999 billion│-2%
Baidu core revenue│RMB93.859 billion│-1.4%
Baidu Cloud revenue│RMB17.419 billion│+16.6%
iQIYI revenue│RMB28.894 billion│-5.4%
Non-GAAP net profit│RMB19.946 billion│+5.9%
Baidu core non-GAAP net profit│RMB19.147 billion│-10.1%

Related News: BOCI Sees Baidu as NLP Leader in CN as 'ERNIE Bot' Set to Launch, Rating Restated Buy

Source: AAStocks Financial News

http://www.aastocks.com/en/stocks/analy ... 245882/all

[winston]

vested

Its self-driving software is being tested in some big cities in L4 environments.

Its Jidu Auto joint venture with auto giant Geely should begin deliveries in 2023.

Earnings and revenue have struggled in recent quarters.

EPS rose 4% in Q3, but after four quarters of year-over-year declines.

Revenue fell 9% and 8% in the past two quarters. EPS growth should improve slightly in 2023.

Q1 results are due Wednesday.

Source: IBD

[winston]

vested

Baidu stock surges on earnings beat, $5B stock buyback plan

By: Manshi Mamtora, CF

Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) shares surged 8% premarket on Wednesday as the company's board of directors authorized a new $5B share repurchase program, effective through Dec. 31, 2025.

The announcement was made in conjunction with company's Q4 earnings that surpassed Wall Street expectations.

'Baidu continues excelling in AI technologies, and the company's "Earnie Bot" provides significant revenue growth and profitability potential.'

Source: Seeking Alpha

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3938880-b ... _breakfast

[winston]

vested

Baidu stock surges more than 7% after big profit beat, new $5 billion share repurchase program

By Tomi Kilgore

Net income nearly tripled, to RMB4.95 billion ($718 million), or RMB13.59 per American depositary share (ADS), from RMB1.72 billion, or RMB4.51 per ADS, in the year-ago period.

Revenue inched less than 0.1% lower to RMB33.08 billion ($4.80 billion) from RMB33.09 billion, but was above the FactSet consensus of RMB32.12 billion.

Source: Market Watch

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/baidu ... eid=yhoof2

[winston]

vested

Baidu’s ChatGPT-like app will revolutionise its search engine, says CEO

Baidu, which has invested heavily in artificial intelligence (AI) in recent years, is regarded as at the forefront of efforts to create a Chinese rival to the AI platform developed by OpenAI and backed by Microsoft.

Ahead of Ernie Bot’s launch in March, Baidu CEO Robin Li told reporters on a conference call to discuss fourth-quarter results that users would be more dependent on the Baidu search engine once it was embedded with the chatbot.

Tencent’s all-in-one messaging app, WeChat, and Bytedance’s Douyin, are among the competitors that have chipped away at Baidu’s market share in recent years.

While OpenAI and ChatGPT are not blocked by Chinese authorities, OpenAI does not allow users in mainland China, Hong Kong, Iran, Russia and parts of Africa to sign up.

Source: Reuters

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/compan ... e-says-ceo

[winston]

vested

Baidu in US$5b buyback as profit increases 10pc

Its cloud computing service is offsetting an advertising lull during China's economic downturn.

Net profit for 2022 increase by 10 percent year-on-year to 20.68 billion yuan (HK$23.54 billion).

In the previous year, the company experienced a minor yearly decline in revenue of 1 percent, resulting in a total revenue of 123.68 billion yuan.

Source: Bloomberg

https://www.thestandard.com.hk/section- ... eases-10pc