BIDU to report Q4 earnings

Baidu, Inc. BIDU is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2021 results on Mar 1.For the fourth quarter, the company expects revenues between RMB 31 billion ($4.81 billion) and RMB 34 billion ($5.27 billion), suggesting a growth rate of 2-12% year over year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $5.15 billion, indicating growth of 11.1% from the year-ago reported figure.Further, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at $1.49 per share, suggesting a decline of 51.6% from the prior-year reported figure. The consensus mark has been unchanged for the past 30 says.BIDU beat estimates in all the trailing four quarters, delivering an earnings surprise of 27.6%, on average.

Baidu’s fourth-quarter revenues are expected to have been driven by strength in Baidu core owing to the increasing demand for Baidu AI cloud.The company has been winning smart public parking projects due to its strength in Baidu Maps. This is likely to have continued benefiting Baidu’s performance in the to-be-reported quarter.Increasing efforts to expand presence in the autonomous driving space might have been a tailwind. Growing traction of the Apollo Go Robotaxi service might have continued aiding the company in the fourth quarter.

Further, the company’s well-performing iQIYI segment offering online entertainment services is expected to have continued benefiting the top line in the fourth quarter.

Yet, uncertainties related to the coronavirus pandemic in China might have remained a concern. Also, impacts of the Omicron variant are expected to get reflected in the upcoming quarterly results.Further, higher promotional expenses and heavy channel spending are likely to have affected its performance in the to-be-reported quarter.

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