Baidu Inc. (BIDU) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know
In the latest trading session, Baidu Inc. (BIDU) closed at $121.29, marking a -0.42% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.47%. At the same time, the Dow added 2.32%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.2%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the web search company had gained 14.56% over the past month. This has outpaced the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 4.26% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.74% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from BIDU as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.43, down 2.72% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $3.68 billion, down 4.06% from the prior-year quarter.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $6.50 per share and revenue of $15.82 billion. These totals would mark changes of -13.1% and +2%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for BIDU should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. BIDU is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, BIDU currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 18.74. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 30.04, so we one might conclude that BIDU is trading at a discount comparatively.
Also, we should mention that BIDU has a PEG ratio of 2.68. 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. BIDU's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.68 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 77, which puts it in the top 31% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. 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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