Baidu Inc. (BIDU) closed at $113.39 in the latest trading session, marking a -3.52% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.79%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.26%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.55%.
The web search company's stock has climbed by 1.52% in the past month, falling short of the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 3.44% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.28%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Baidu Inc. in its upcoming release. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.13, up 12.11% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $5.03 billion, indicating a 10.05% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $8.22 per share and revenue of $20.09 billion. These totals would mark changes of +7.59% and +11%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Baidu Inc. should also be noted by investors. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the business and profitability.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. 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, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed an unchanged state. Currently, Baidu Inc. is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, Baidu Inc. currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 14.3. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 17.4.
We can additionally observe that BIDU currently boasts a PEG ratio of 1.66. 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 1.66 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 104, which puts it in the top 43% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained 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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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).