Independent research on the U.S. markets, Baptista Research

Baptista Research

Independent research on the U.S. markets

Baptista Research is an independent financial research house focused on the U.S. markets. We provide equity research as well as credit research reports on the top-listed U.S. companies with most of our focus on technology, consumer goods and services, automobiles, industrials, oil and gas, pharma, and healthcare. Our research has served more than 3000 institutional investors including mutual funds, hedge funds, banks, family offices, and various buy-side firms. We operate a research subscription service where institutions, as well as retail investors, can have priority access to all our research. We also have a wide distribution of our research reports across some of the top global financial platforms. Apart from equity research and credit research, we also provide advisory services with respect to mergers & acquisitions (M&A), private equity/ venture capital fundraising, valuation reports, and investment management services for corporates.
Baptista Research is owned and managed by Ishan Majumdar, an ex-Venture Capitalist/ Investment Banker, a Chartered Accountant, and a Masters’ degree holder in Management from HEC Paris. Ishan has nearly a decade of experience in Mergers and Acquisitions, Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs), Venture Capital Investing, Corporate Strategy, and Valuation in front-office roles at the likes of BNP Paribas CIB, Credit Agricole CIB, Groupe Danone, and TIW Private Equity. He has worked on and closed multiple acquisition deals, leveraged buyouts, and start-up investment transactions.

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul><li>Baidu, Inc. delivered a solid performance in the first quarter of 2025, with its Baidu Core division reporting a 7% year-over-year revenue increase, reaching RMB 25.5 billion.</li><li>This growth was primarily driven by a substantial surge in its AI cloud business, which saw a 42% increase year-over-year, contributing significantly to Baidu Core’s overall revenue.</li><li>A notable development within this business unit is the expansion of the AI cloud’s role in Baidu’s operations, now accounting for 26% of Baidu Core's revenue, up from 20% in the previous year.</li></ul>

Baidu, Inc. delivered a solid performance in the first quarter of 2025, with its Baidu Core division reporting a 7% year-over-year revenue increase, reaching RMB 25.5 billion.This growth was primarily driven by a substantial surge in its AI cloud business, which saw a 42% increase year-over-year, contributing significantly to Baidu Core’s overall revenue.A notable development within this business unit is the expansion of the AI cloud’s role in Baidu’s operations, now accounting for 26% of Baidu Core's revenue, up from 20% in the previous year.

Baidu Inc.: Dealing With The Uncertain Commercial Viability of Autonomous Driving

Blue Lotus Non US Internet research, Blue Lotus Research Institute

Ying Pan

Blue Lotus Non US Internet research

China growth and global non-US Internet equities

Blue Lotus Research Institute

Blue Lotus Research is a Hong Kong Type 4 Licensed investment advisory firm focusing on Chinese growth equities and global non-US Internet equities

<ul>
<li>BIDU reported C1Q25 top line, non-GAAP operating profit and GAAP net income 4.5%, 8.6% and 58% vs. our estimates. Baidu Core revenue beat our estimate by 3.4%, </li>
<li>We believe BIC's outperformance stemmed from enterprise demand for AI adoption. Further, BIDU's integrated AI offering should allow it to capture AI's 2C revenue quicker. </li>
<li>We cut the TP from US$88 to US$85 and maintain SELL.</li>
</ul>


BIDU reported C1Q25 top line, non-GAAP operating profit and GAAP net income 4.5%, 8.6% and 58% vs. our estimates. Baidu Core revenue beat our estimate by 3.4%, 
We believe BIC's outperformance stemmed from enterprise demand for AI adoption. Further, BIDU's integrated AI offering should allow it to capture AI's 2C revenue quicker. 
We cut the TP from US$88 to US$85 and maintain SELL.


[Baidu (BIDU US, SELL, TP US$85) TP Change]: C1Q25: Accelerated AI Search Transition Releases Risk

External broker reports(aggregated public sources), CMB International

CMB International

External broker reports(aggregated public sources)

Incorporated in Hong Kong, supported by the mainland and targeting in global market, CMB International Capital Corporation Limited (“CMBI”) is an integrated financial institution providing comprehensive and professional services. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Merchants Bank ("CMB"), by leveraging on the Group’s synergy and coordination in domestic and overseas markets, as well as CMB’s strong resources and outstanding social reputation, CMBI and its subsidiaries have been actively implementing diversified business strategies and set up an overall layout of main business segments including Corporate Finance, Asset Management, Wealth Management, Global Markets and Structured Finance, etc. Adhering to the philosophy of “being clients oriented and increasing our own values by the way of creating value for clients”, CMBI endeavors to provide quality and integrated financial services to institutional, corporate and individual customers both domestic and overseas including Hong Kong IPO sponsorship and underwriting, share placement and rights issue for listed companies, financial advisors, bonds issuance services, asset management, direct investment, wealth management, equity sales and trading, etc.

<ul><li>Baidu announced (21 May) 1Q25 results: Baidu Core revenue was RMB25.5bn, 10% better than Bloomberg consensus estimates, driven by the strong beat in cloud revenue; non-GAAP OP of Baidu Core reached RMB4.9bn, 11% ahead of consensus.</li><li>Baidu is proactively investing in development opportunities for the AI era.</li><li>While the product innovation plan for search is more fast-paced and determined than we expected, it may weigh on near-term ads revenue growth recovery. </li></ul><p><em>Content is external broker report sourced from online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. Refer full disclaimer below.</em></p>

Baidu announced (21 May) 1Q25 results: Baidu Core revenue was RMB25.5bn, 10% better than Bloomberg consensus estimates, driven by the strong beat in cloud revenue; non-GAAP OP of Baidu Core reached RMB4.9bn, 11% ahead of consensus.Baidu is proactively investing in development opportunities for the AI era.While the product innovation plan for search is more fast-paced and determined than we expected, it may weigh on near-term ads revenue growth recovery. Content is external broker report sourced from online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. Refer full disclaimer below.

Baidu (BIDU US) - Cloud Revenue a Strong Beat...

<ul>
<li>We expect Baidu to report C1Q25 top line,non-GAAP operating profit and GAAP net income inline, (4.2%) and (8.2%) vs. the consensus, and C2Q25 top line guidance (2.7%) vs. the consensus</li>
<li>Although we expect rebounding consumption to help BIDU's advertising business, its traffic share losses were alarming. Further, we expect some of BIDU's core advertising categories to experience sluggish recovery;</li>
<li>We maintain our view that Baidu lacks visible growth drivers, reiterate our SELL rating, and cut its TP to US$88.</li>
</ul>


We expect Baidu to report C1Q25 top line,non-GAAP operating profit and GAAP net income inline, (4.2%) and (8.2%) vs. the consensus, and C2Q25 top line guidance (2.7%) vs. the consensus
Although we expect rebounding consumption to help BIDU's advertising business, its traffic share losses were alarming. Further, we expect some of BIDU's core advertising categories to experience sluggish recovery;
We maintain our view that Baidu lacks visible growth drivers, reiterate our SELL rating, and cut its TP to US$88.


[Baidu (BIDU US, SELL, TP US$88) Preview]: Search Traffic’s Decline in Relevance the No.1 Issue

<ul><li>Baidu is intensifying its AI initiatives with the launch of ERNIE 4.5 Turbo and ERNIE X1 Turbo, aiming to solidify its position in China's competitive AI landscape.</li><li>These models boast enhanced multimodal capabilities and are priced significantly lower than competitors, with ERNIE 4.5 Turbo costing just 1% of GPT-4.5's price.</li><li>In a strategic shift, Baidu plans to open-source ERNIE 4.5 by June 30, 2025, and has made its ERNIE Bot free for individual users.</li></ul>

Baidu is intensifying its AI initiatives with the launch of ERNIE 4.5 Turbo and ERNIE X1 Turbo, aiming to solidify its position in China's competitive AI landscape.These models boast enhanced multimodal capabilities and are priced significantly lower than competitors, with ERNIE 4.5 Turbo costing just 1% of GPT-4.5's price.In a strategic shift, Baidu plans to open-source ERNIE 4.5 by June 30, 2025, and has made its ERNIE Bot free for individual users.

Baidu’s AI Shake-Up: Can ERNIE 4.5 Turbo Outmaneuver DeepSeek & Alibaba?

China

Baidu, Inc. operates an Internet search engine. The Company offers algorithmic search, enterprise search, news, MP3, and image searches, voice assistance, online storage, and navigation services. Baidu serves clients globally.

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Baidu (BIDU US)

Baidu Inc.: Dealing With The Uncertain Commercial Viability of Autonomous Driving

Baidu, Inc. delivered a solid performance in the first quarter of 2025, with its Baidu Core division reporting a 7% year-over-year revenue...

Baptista Research

[Baidu (BIDU US, SELL, TP US$85) TP Change]: C1Q25: Accelerated AI Search Transition Releases Risk

BIDU exceeded expectations in Q1 with strong revenue and profit growth driven by enterprise AI demand, but analyst downgrades stock to SELL with a...

Blue Lotus Research Institute

Baidu (BIDU US) - Cloud Revenue a Strong Beat...

Baidu Core revenue was RMB25.5bn, 10% better than Bloomberg consensus estimates, driven by the strong beat in cloud revenue

CMB International

[Baidu (BIDU US, SELL, TP US$88) Preview]: Search Traffic’s Decline in Relevance the No.1 Issue

Baidu's Q1 results in line with expectations, but concerns remain about advertising business and lack of growth drivers. Analysts maintain SELL...

Blue Lotus Research Institute

Baidu’s AI Shake-Up: Can ERNIE 4.5 Turbo Outmaneuver DeepSeek & Alibaba?

Baidu is intensifying its AI initiatives with the launch of ERNIE 4.5 Turbo and ERNIE X1 Turbo, aiming to solidify its position in China's...

Baptista Research

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

Baidu Inc.: Dealing With The Uncertain Commercial Viability of Autonomous Driving

Baidu, Inc. delivered a solid performance in the first quarter of 2025, with its Baidu Core division reporting a 7% year-over-year revenue...

Baptista Research

[Baidu (BIDU US, SELL, TP US$85) TP Change]: C1Q25: Accelerated AI Search Transition Releases Risk

​BIDU exceeded expectations in Q1 with strong revenue and profit growth driven by enterprise AI demand, but analyst downgrades stock to SELL with a...

Blue Lotus Research Institute

Baidu (BIDU US) - Cloud Revenue a Strong Beat...

Baidu Core revenue was RMB25.5bn, 10% better than Bloomberg consensus estimates, driven by the strong beat in cloud revenue

CMB International

[Baidu (BIDU US, SELL, TP US$88) Preview]: Search Traffic’s Decline in Relevance the No.1 Issue

​Baidu's Q1 results in line with expectations, but concerns remain about advertising business and lack of growth drivers. Analysts maintain SELL...

Blue Lotus Research Institute

Baidu’s AI Shake-Up: Can ERNIE 4.5 Turbo Outmaneuver DeepSeek & Alibaba?

Baidu is intensifying its AI initiatives with the launch of ERNIE 4.5 Turbo and ERNIE X1 Turbo, aiming to solidify its position in China's...

Baptista Research

BIDU exceeded expectations in Q1 with strong revenue and profit growth driven by enterprise AI demand, but analyst downgrades stock to SELL with a...

Baidu's Q1 results in line with expectations, but concerns remain about advertising business and lack of growth drivers. Analysts maintain SELL...