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Baidu (BIDU) to Post Q1 Earnings: What's in the Offing?

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Baidu, Inc. (BIDU - Free Report) is scheduled to report first-quarter 2023 results on May 16.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $1.93 per share, suggesting 9.04% growth from the prior-year quarter’s reported figure. Further, the estimated figure has moved downward by 12.7% over the past 30 days.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $4.39 billion, indicating a decline of 2.05% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

BIDU’s earnings beat estimates in all its trailing four quarters of fiscal 2022, the average being 45.45%.

Baidu, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Baidu, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Baidu, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Baidu, Inc. Quote

Factors to Consider

Gains from Baidu’s expanding footprint in the autonomous driving space are expected to get reflected in the to-be-reported results. The growing traction of the Apollo Go Robotaxi service across China is likely to have hugely favored BIDU’s performance in the first quarter.

The growing efforts to strengthen Baidu’s AI business are likely to have been a key catalyst. The company’s robust Baidu Cloud is anticipated to have benefited the business in the quarter under review.

The growing adoption of Baidu ACE smart transportation is likely to have contributed well to the AI business in the first quarter.

This apart, the introduction of the company’s generative AI chatbot, Ernie Bot, capable of solving mathematics queries, responding to questions regarding Chinese literature and generating images and videos, might have benefited its upcoming results.

Additionally, sustained efforts to bolster the mobile search engine and AI tools are anticipated to have aided the first quarter’s performance.

The momentum in Baidu's mobile ecosystem is expected to have aided growth in the average daily active user base of the Baidu App in the first quarter. Hosted solutions on the Baidu App are expected to have driven the Baidu Core segment in the quarter under review.

BIDU’s well-performing iQIYI segment, offering online entertainment services, is expected to have bolstered the to-be-reported quarter’s performance.

However, the impacts of higher promotional expenses and heavy spending on new growth areas are expected to have affected Baidu’s performance in the quarter under discussion.

Uncertainties related to the coronavirus pandemic in China are also anticipated to have raised concerns.

What Our Model Says

Our proven model doesn’t conclusively predict an earnings beat for Baidu this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat, but that’s not the case here, as elaborated below.

Baidu has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Baidu currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Stocks to Consider

Here are some stocks worth considering, as our model shows that they have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this season.

Autodesk (ADSK - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.76% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

ADSK is scheduled to release first-quarter 2024 results on May 25. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ADSK’s earnings is pegged at $1.55 per share, suggesting a rise of 8.4% year over year.

Agilent Technologies (A - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +0.40% and currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Agilent Technologies is set to report second-quarter fiscal 2023 results on May 23. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for A’s earnings is pegged at $1.27 per share, suggesting an increase of 12.4% from the prior-year quarter’s reported figure.

Cisco Systems (CSCO - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.59% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present.

CSCO is scheduled to report third-quarter fiscal 2023 results on May 17. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CSCO’s earnings is pegged at 97 cents per share, suggesting an increase of 11.5% from the prior-year quarter’s reported figure.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

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