Yahoo Finance Baidu Inc. (BIDU) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know
In the latest trading session, Baidu Inc. (BIDU) closed at $177.89, marking a +0.82% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.52% gain on the day.
Coming into today, shares of the web search company had lost 4.91% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 1.56%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.41%.
BIDU will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. On that day, BIDU is projected to report earnings of $1.93 per share, which would represent 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.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $8.60 per share and revenue of $19.92 billion, which would represent changes of -12.24% and +27.14%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for BIDU. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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 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 9.45% lower. BIDU is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that BIDU has a Forward P/E ratio of 20.52 right now. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 30.8.
Meanwhile, BIDU's PEG ratio is currently 4.37. 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 2.55 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 175, which puts it in the bottom 32% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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