Baidu Inc. (BIDU) closed at $161.10 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.85% move from the prior day. This move outpaced the S&P 500’s daily gain of 0.69%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.78%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.28%.
– Zacks
Heading into today, shares of the web search company had gained 7.14% over the past month, outpacing the Computer and Technology sector’s loss of 8.19% and the S&P 500’s loss of 5.29% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Baidu Inc. as it approaches its next earnings report date. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.49, down 51.62% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $5.04 billion, up 8.74% from the prior-year quarter.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Baidu Inc. should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company’s business and profitability.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 18.72% lower. Baidu Inc. is currently a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
Investors should also note Baidu Inc.’s current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 25.2. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 25.2, so we one might conclude that Baidu Inc. is trading at a no noticeable deviation comparatively.
Also, we should mention that BIDU has a PEG ratio of 13.84. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company’s expected earnings growth rate into account. The Internet – Services industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.52 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 207, which puts it in the bottom 19% 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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