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Baidu Inc. (BIDU) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Baidu Inc. (BIDU - Free Report) closed at $118.56 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.66% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.77% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.67%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.75%.

Heading into today, shares of the web search company had gained 7.11% over the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 8.17% and the S&P 500's gain of 8.19% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from BIDU as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, BIDU is projected to report earnings of $1.09 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 65.72%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $3.83 billion, down 2.51% from the prior-year quarter.

BIDU's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $5.25 per share and revenue of $16.08 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -45.54% and +4.9%, respectively.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for BIDU. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 6.18% lower. BIDU is holding a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell) right now.

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that BIDU has a Forward P/E ratio of 22.74 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 29.66, which means BIDU is trading at a discount to the group.

Investors should also note that BIDU has a PEG ratio of 2.9 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Internet - Services industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.86 as of yesterday's close.

The Internet - Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 78, which puts it in the top 31% 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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