Baidu

Baidu managed to deliver an all-around in the last quarter beat despite the fact that its financial performance was impacted by a challenging environment because of a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases as well as its impact on the broader economy. Nevertheless, the company improved its margin and operating profit year over year. In the quarter, health-related search queries grew. Both feeds distributed through the Baidu app and mobile search queries continued experiencing double-digit growth in the quarter. Apollo Go remained the biggest autonomous ride-hailing service in the world. Baidu continues to scale back low-margin business for both cloud-solution and app projects. Also, it continues to standardize its end applications and solutions for specific use cases in traditional industries. The company is riding high on the wave of AI and AI has become a cornerstone in many of its products and services. With users reading about ChatGPT recently, large language models using generative AI have created a megatrend that will revolutionize several businesses. Baidu is expected to launch Ernie Bot, its new conversational AI bot, powered by its latest in-house large language models, to counter ChatGPT. Moreover, the company plans to integrate Ernie Bot into its auto solutions and Xiaodu to enhance user experience and upgrade all smart devices and services. Recently, it developed an AI solution for a prominent coal-fired power plant in Shaanxi province to improve the efficiency of power generation through an automated cooling system. We give Baidu a ‘Hold’ rating with a revised target price.