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Baidu Inc. (BIDU) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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Baidu Inc. (BIDU - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $167.06, moving +0.17% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.42%.

Coming into today, shares of the web search company had lost 18.21% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 2.29%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.64%.

BIDU will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be August 12, 2021. In that report, analysts expect BIDU to post earnings of $1.93 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 7.21%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $4.76 billion, up 29.04% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $8.60 per share and revenue of $19.92 billion. These totals would mark changes of -12.24% and +27.14%, respectively, from last year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for BIDU. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 9.45% lower within the past month. BIDU is holding a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell) right now.

Digging into valuation, BIDU currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 19.39. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 30.18, so we one might conclude that BIDU is trading at a discount comparatively.

Meanwhile, BIDU's PEG ratio is currently 4.13. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Internet - Services stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 3.56 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Internet - Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 178, putting it in the bottom 30% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow BIDU in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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