Baidu Inc. (BIDU) closed at $146.42 in the latest trading session, marking a -2.18% move from the prior day. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.62% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.99%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.65%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the web search company had gained 15.09% outpaced the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 1.47% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.59%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Baidu Inc. in its upcoming earnings disclosure. On that day, Baidu Inc. is projected to report earnings of $1.53 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 41.83%. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $4.62 billion, showing a 1.09% drop compared to the year-ago quarter.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $7.07 per share and revenue of $18.2 billion. These totals would mark changes of -32.86% and 0%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Baidu Inc. should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed an unchanged state. Baidu Inc. is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
In terms of valuation, Baidu Inc. is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 15.6. This represents a discount compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 18.07.
The Internet - Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 99, which puts it in the top 41% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Baidu, Inc. (BIDU): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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