Baidu and BellRing Brands have been highlighted as Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – January 21, 2026 – Zacks Equity Research shares Baidu BIDU as the Bull of the Day and BellRing Brands BRBR as the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Bloom Energy Corp. BE, Talen Energy Corp. TLN and Ormat Technologies ORA.

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks.

Bull of the Day:

Baidu, a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), dominates China’s search engine market and serves hundreds of millions of users, developers, and enterprises daily. The company offers search-based, feed-based, and other online marketing services, as well as cloud and AI services. Founded in 2000 as a search engine company, Baidu has evolved into a comprehensive AI powerhouse.

The stock recently broke out to a 52-week high on increasing volume. Shares continue to display relative strength as buying pressure accumulates in this market leader.

Baidu is part of the Zacks Internet – Services industry group, which currently ranks in the top 27% out of approximately 250 Zacks Ranked Industries. Because it is ranked in the top half of all Zacks Ranked Industries, we expect this group to outperform over the next 3 to 6 months, just as it has over the past year.

Take note of the favorable characteristics for this group below. Stocks in this industry are relatively undervalued based on traditional valuation metrics. They are also projected to experience above-average earnings growth, which signifies a powerful combination that should lead to higher prices in the future.

Historical research studies suggest that approximately half of a stock’s price appreciation is due to its industry grouping. In fact, the top 50% of Zacks Ranked Industries outperforms the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.

It’s no secret that investing in stocks that are part of leading industry groups can give us a leg up relative to the market. By focusing on leading stocks within the top 50% of Zacks Ranked Industries, we can dramatically improve our stock-picking success.

Company Description

Baidu provides online marketing and non-marketing value added services through an internet platform in the People’s Republic of China. Its mission is to “make the complicated world simpler through technology.”

Since 2010, Baidu has heavily invested in artificial intelligence, developing a full AI stack that spans foundational chips and infrastructure, the open-source PaddlePaddle deep learning framework, and a wide array of AI-powered applications.

The company’s ERNIE bot is a generative AI product and knowledge-enhanced large language model (LLM). The bot has gained significant traction, recently surpassing the 200 million monthly user mark.

In addition, Baidu operates its Apollo Go robotaxi service, offering fully driverless rides in cities like Hong Kong and Wuhan. Late last year, the service hit the 250,000 milestone in terms of weekly rides. Apollo Go has accumulated over 140 million driverless miles. This highlights Baidu’s strong momentum in autonomous driving amid broader optimism surrounding AI.

Baidu is also set to spin off its AI chip unit, Kunlunxin, as the company seeks to accentuate its standalone value and entice semiconductor-focused investors. As we’ll see, analysts covering BIDU stock remain optimistic about its future growth prospects in areas such as autonomous driving and cloud computing.

Earnings Trends and Future Estimates

Baidu has shown a consistent ability to deliver positive earnings surprises; the leading AI company hasn’t missed the earnings mark in many years. The company posted a trailing four-quarter average surprise of nearly 30%, reflecting strong execution in converting AI-driven demand into results. This track record aligns perfectly with the power of the Zacks Rank system, which prioritizes stocks showing upward earnings revisions.

Baidu’s transformation has been remarkable. The company reported third-quarter results back in November that exceeded expectations, with adjusted EPS of $1.56 beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 30%.

The Beijing-based company has been the beneficiary of improving earnings estimate revisions as of late. Looking into fiscal 2026, analysts have raised their annual EPS estimates by 14.83% in the past 60 days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate now stands at $9.60 per share, reflecting better than 35% growth relative to the prior year.

Let’s Get Technical

Baidu’s stock performance is reflective of the fundamental story, as shares have surged to a series of 52-week highs in early 2026. Only stocks that are in extremely powerful uptrends are able to make this type of price move and widely outperform the market. This is the kind of stock we want to include in our portfolio – one that is trending well and receiving positive earnings estimate revisions.

Notice how shares remain above upward-sloping 50-day (blue line) and 200-day (red line) moving averages. The stock has advanced more than 70% over the past six months, and momentum appears to be continuing this year. With both strong fundamentals and technicals, BIDU stock is poised to continue its outperformance.

Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. As we know, Baidu has recently witnessed positive revisions. As long as this trend remains intact (and BIDU continues to deliver earnings beats), the stock will likely continue its bullish run throughout this year.

Bottom Line

Backed by a leading industry group and robust history of earnings beats, it’s not difficult to see why this company is a compelling investment. Currently, BIDU carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), driven by favorable estimate momentum.

Solid institutional buying should continue to provide a tailwind for the stock price. Robust fundamentals combined with a strong technical trend certainly justify adding shares to the mix. If you haven’t already done so, be sure to put BIDU on your shortlist.

Bear of the Day:

BellRing Brands provides nutrition products in the United States. The company offers ready-to-drink protein shakes and beverages, protein powders, nutrition bars, and other products primarily under the Premier Protein and Dymatize brands.

Key challenges remain for BellRing in 2026 including changes in customer purchasing behavior and a lack of pricing power. Weak consumption growth remains the biggest unanswered question in the broader consumer staples sector. A difficult macroeconomic environment and lingering inflationary conditions do not bode well for the company’s outlook.

As we’ll see, earnings are expected to decline in the current fiscal year. BellRing faces intense competition as consumers remain focused on health and navigate toward nutritional supplements.

The Zacks Rundown

A Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) stock, BellRing Brands is a component of the Zacks Food – Miscellaneous industry group, which currently ranks in the bottom 14% out of approximately 250 Zacks Ranked Industries. As such, we expect this industry group as a whole to underperform the market over the next 3 to 6 months, just as it has throughout the past year:

Stocks in the bottom tiers of industries can often be intriguing short candidates. While individual stocks have the ability to outperform even when they’re part of a lagging industry, the inclusion in a weaker group serves as a headwind for any potential rallies and the journey forward is that much more difficult.

Stocks in this industry are expected to experience below average earnings growth, so it’s no surprise that BRBR shares have been underperforming the market over the past year. The stock hit a 52-week low earlier in January even as the major U.S. indexes hover near all-time highs.

Recent Earnings Miss & Deteriorating Outlook

Back in November, BellRing broke a long streak of earnings beats after the company posted third-quarter earnings of 51 cents per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by nearly 6%. Falling short of earnings estimates is a recipe for underperformance, and BRBR is no exception.

The nutritional product provider has been on the receiving end of negative earnings estimate revisions as of late. Looking at the latest quarter, analysts slashed estimates by -11.11% in the past 60 days. The Q4 Zacks Consensus EPS Estimate is now 32 cents per share, reflecting negative growth of -44.8% relative to the same period in the prior year.

Falling earnings estimates are a huge red flag and need to be respected. Negative growth year-over-year is the type of trend that bears like to see.

Technical Outlook

As illustrated below, BRBR stock is in a sustained downtrend. Notice how the stock has been widely underperforming the major indices. Also note that shares are trading below downward-sloping 50-day (blue line) and 200-day (red line) moving averages – another good sign for the bears.

BRBR stock has experienced what is known as a “death cross,” whereby the stock’s 50-day moving average crosses below its 200-day moving average. Shares would have to make an outsized move to the upside and show increasing earnings estimate revisions to warrant taking any long positions. The stock has fallen more than 60% in the past nine months alone.

Final Thoughts

A deteriorating fundamental and technical backdrop show that this stock is not set to make its way to new highs anytime soon. The fact that BRBR stock is included in one of the worst-performing industry groups adds yet another headwind to a long list of concerns.

A recent earnings miss and falling future earnings estimates will likely serve as a ceiling to any potential rallies, nurturing the stock’s downtrend.

Potential investors may want to give this stock the cold shoulder, or perhaps include it as part of a short or hedge strategy. Bulls will want to steer clear of BRBR until the situation shows major signs of improvement.   

Additional content:

Bloom Energy Outpaces Industry: How to Play the Stock

Shares of Bloom Energy Corp. have gained 62.1% in the past month against the Zacks Alternative Energy - Other industry’s decline of 1.7%. The company has also outperformed the Zacks Oil & Energy sector’s return of 5.2% and the Zacks S&P 500 Composite’s rally of 1.2% in the same period.

Bloom Energy is gaining from increasing clean power demand, driven by AI-focused data centers, as well as a shift toward distributed energy solutions to bypass transmission and distribution constraints.

Another operator in the same space, Talen Energy Corp. has declined 1.9% in the same time period.

Bloom Energy is trading above its 50 and 200-day simple moving averages (SMAs), signaling a bullish trend. The 50-day and 200-day SMAs are key indicators for traders and analysts to identify support and resistance levels. It is considered particularly important, as this is the first marker of an uptrend or downtrend of the stocks.

Should you consider adding BE to your portfolio only based on positive price movements? Let us delve deeper and find out the factors that can help investors decide whether it is a good entry point to add the BE stock to their portfolio.

Tailwinds Boosting Bloom Energy’s Performance

Demand for round-the-clock power in the United States is rising, but delays and bottlenecks in large transmission projects are limiting customer options. In this environment, Bloom Energy’s Energy Server provides an alternative by operating alongside the grid through direct connection to customers’ main power feeds, while avoiding efficiency losses of centralized systems. BE’s modular design allows flexible, scalable deployment ranging from hundreds of kilowatts to several hundred megawatts to meet customer requirements.

Bloom Energy’s modules have the capacity to produce electricity without creating any pollution. The company utilizes its proprietary solid oxide technology, which generates electricity through electrochemical fuel conversion, eliminating the need for traditional combustion and does not pollute the environment like fossil fuel-based power plants.

Bloom Energy continues to invest in research and development, improving the operational excellence of its modules and also assists in reducing production costs, boosting margins of the company.

BE will also benefit from government incentives that promote clean energy production. The company is also planning to roll out a new manufacturing unit in California to meet the rising demand for its products.

Bloom Energy’s Estimates Moving Up

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Bloom Energy’s 2026 earnings per share indicates year-over-year growth of 78.75% on 37.74% year-over-year increase in total sales.

Bloom Energy’s long-term (three to five years) earnings growth is pegged at 25%

BE Stock Returns Better Than Its Industry

The return on invested capital (“ROIC”) measures how well a company generates returns on the money it invests. ROIC is a key indicator of a company's profitability and operational efficiency. The ROIC of the company indicates that it is investing money more efficiently than its peers in the industry.

Bloom Energy’s ROIC has outperformed the industry average in the trailing 12 months. ROIC of BE was 5.22% compared with the industry’s return of 1.06%.

Another company operating in the same industry, Ormat Technologies, has an ROIC of 4.45%, which is better than the industry but lower than Bloom Energy’s return.

BE is Trading at a Premium Valuation

Bloom Energy is currently trading at a premium valuation compared with its industry, with the forward 12-month price-to-sales (P/S) ratio at 13.02X. The industry is currently trading at 4.67X

Ormat Technologies is also trading at 6.31X, a premium valuation compared with its industry.

Wrapping Up

Bloom Energy maintains steady performance, supported by increasing demand for clean energy and its ability to provide on-site power to customers. The demand for Bloom Energy’s service is going to rise as it can provide clean energy as per the customer's requirement.

Bloom Energy’s rising estimates, strong price performance and ROIC better than the industry make it attractive for investors.

Yet, considering the current premium valuation, we suggest investors maintain their position in this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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