Tag Archives: Baidu

Baidu Company News Baidu 百度, Inc. incorporated on January 2000, is classifed as web services company established by Robin Li and Eric Xu.
Overview of the Chinese high Tech Market by former Chief Editor of Reuters (Doug Young).
Baidu offers many services, including a search engine for websites, audio files and images.

Baidu in Figures
– Ranked 4th overall in the Alexa rankings
– In 2015, Baidu had over 1 billion visits / month
– Baidu offers 57 community services (Chinese encyclopedia, questions/Answers , forums … )

IPOs: Focus Media Changes Course, Renaissance Eyes Buyouts

Bottom line: Focus Media will re-list with a high valuation on a new enterprise-style board set to launch in Shanghai next year, while China Renaissance’s new fund to help US-listed firms privatize will attract strong investor interest.

Focus Media changes IPO re-listing plan

A couple of items are in the news involving the recent buyout wave for US-listed Chinese companies, which are rapidly abandoning New York in search of higher valuations in their home market. In an abrupt and somewhat surprising shift, Focus Media, one of the first companies in this homecoming wave, is reportedly abandoning its original plan for Shanghai.

The second item has China Renaissance, a well-respected domestic private equity firm, preparing to raise a major new fund that will help to finance privatizations of Chinese firms from New York. This particular deal looks significant, since many of the nearly 3 dozens firms to announce privatization plans this year could soon need new funding if previous commitments collapse due to recent volatility in China’s domestic stock markets. Read Full Post…

FUND RAISING: Wine Seller Jiuxian Dilutes, Baidu Buys Back

Bottom line: Jiuxian’s raising of a seventh funding round reflects fading investor interest in online wine sellers due to a luxury slowdown, while Baidu’s share buyback plan looks like a good use of cash to support its sagging stock.

Investors lose taste for online wine sellers

I’ve been a financial news reporter for quite some time now, but even I was surprised to read that online wine seller Jiuxian has just raised funds in a new round of G-series funding. This marks the first time I’ve seen the letter “G” in such a context, and I had to do some counting on my fingers to finally figure out the 500 million yuan ($80 million) funding round represents the seventh for this company that apparently has yet to make a profit despite so much private investment.

Baidu

Meantime, online search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) was in a spending mode with its announcement that it would dole out up to $1 billion over the next year to support its sagging stock that plunged to a 1-year low this week on a weak earnings report. This particular use of money looks reasonable for a cash-rich company like Baidu. I do find the timing just slightly ironic, since Baidu raised $1.25 billion through a bond offer just a month ago, meaning this latest buyback will be funded by the same investors who have recently been dumping the company’s stock.  more information here Read Full Post…

News Digest: July 31, 2015

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on July 31. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Announces $1 Bln Share Repurchase Program (PRNewswire)
  • Focus Media May Drop Backdoor Listing, Eyes New Strategic Industries Board (Chinese article)
  • Wine E-tailer Jiuxian Lands 500 Mln Yuan Series G Funding (English article)
  • China Renaissance Earmarks Half of 5 Bln Yuan Fund Raising for VIE Buyouts (Chinese article)
  • China Box Office Posts Monthly Record with 5 Bln Yuan in July (Chinese article)
  • Latest calendar for Q2 earnings reports (Earnings calendar)

MEDIA: Luxury Slowdown Clips Phoenix’s Wings

Bottom line: Sputtering demand for luxury goods and cars is likely to hamstring Phoenix Satellite TV’s earnings for at least the next year, as the company increasingly loses ground to new media rivals.

Sliding luxury demand undermines Phoenix

The recent slowdown in China’s luxury goods market is claiming one of its first victims in the media realm, with Phoenix Satellite TV (HKEx: 2008) warning that a sudden chill in luxury ad sales has wiped out its profits in the first half of the year. The news certainly doesn’t bode well for traditional media companies, which are a favored place for luxury goods makers to advertise. Car makers are another major source of ad revenue for these older media companies, and rapidly slowing sales in that sector also means that names like Phoenix and even some new media high-flyers like Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) could be looking at a difficult period ahead. Read Full Post…

BUYOUTS: Perfect World Wraps, Investors Wary on Others

Bottom line: Investors are regaining confidence that some of the bigger, recently announced buyouts for US-listed China companies could be completed, but believe many smaller deals will ultimately collapse.

Perfect World completes buyout

Online game operator Perfect World (Nasdaq: PWRD) has formally completed its management-led buyout, offering us a good opportunity to check the status of dozens of other pending offers that look shaky due to recent turbulence in China’s stock markets. Perfect World was one of a handful of companies that launched their privatization drives before May, when a wave of new bids fueled by speculative money from China’s frothy stock markets suddenly began.

I’ve previously said that many of the earlier bids like Perfect World’s are likely to succeed, as their funding sources seemed more solid. But some of the other bids may run into trouble due shaky money sources that may rapidly disappear as China’s stock markets show signs of heading into another tailspin. Read Full Post…

News Digest: July 29, 2015

The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on July 29. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • Chinese ADRs Drop 3rd Day Amid Mainland Rout, Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Plunges (English article)
  • WeChat Italy, ChatSim In Deal to Jointly Promote Instant Messaging in Europe (company announcement)
  • Air China (HKEx: 753) to Raise $1.9 Bln in Share Sale to Buy Planes (English article)
  • Phoenix Satellite (HKEx: 2008) Warns of Substantial Profit Decline in H1 (HKEx announcement)
  • Perfect World (Nasdaq: PWRD) Announces Completion of Merger (PRNewswire)

INTERNET: Soaring Costs Sap Baidu Profit Growth

Bottom line: Baidu’s heavy spending on new businesses is rapidly eroding its profits, a strategy that looks acceptable over the short-term but should be abandoned within a year or two if it fails to produce results.

online search leader Baidu

Baidu profit disappoints

I have to commend online search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) for steadily maintaining strong revenue growth of 30 percent or more over the last few years, even as China’s overall economy has started to slow and the company faces growing challenges from new rivals. But that said, Baidu‘s costs seem to be rising even faster that its revenue, which has led to anemic profit growth in its latest quarterly results.

At the end of the day, investors should be most concerned about profits at any company, since a stock price is directly tied to the bottom line. But Baidu seems to be less interested these days in profits. The company is indeed facing many challenges, both to its core search business and also as it expands into new areas, which is driving the rising costs. But it also needs to learn to bring those costs under control, to roughly in line with revenue growth, or risk facing the wrath of investors.

Read Full Post…

News Digest: July 28, 2015

he following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on July 28. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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  • China Minsheng Investment to Acquire Sirius Int’l Insurance for $2.2 Bln (English article)
  • Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Announces Q2 2015 Results (PRNewswire)
  • Delta Air Lines to Buy China Eastern (HKEx: 670) Stake for $450 Mln (English article)
  • Shanghai Traffic Regulator Gives Clear Road to Legality for Private Car Services (Chinese article)
  • US-Listed China Stocks in Monday Sell-Off, Changyou (Nasdaq: CYOU) Dips 11 Pct (Chinese article)

INTERNET: Xunlei Ties With Baidu, 58.com Works on ChinaHR

Bottom line: Baidu could buy a small stake in Xunlei but is unlikely to acquire the company outright as part of their new alliance, while 58.com’s plan to rebuild its newly acquired job site should have good chances of success.

58.com goes to work on ChinaHR

I’ve been predicting a marriage for a while for online video orphan Xunlei (Nasdaq: XNET), even as it remains stubbornly single despite its lack of scale to survive as an independent company. First it appeared the company might get bought by smartphone sensation Xiaomi after the pair boosted their strategic tie-up in May, but then nothing more happened. Now the gossip mills are likely to start turning again, following the latest announcement of a major partnership between Xunlei and Baidu’s (Nasdaq: BIDU) iQiyi online video service.

58.com

Meantime in another Internet news bit, the top executive at leading online classified ad site 58.com (NYSE: WUBA) is saying he will need 2 years to turn around the underperforming online job site ChinaHR, which he acquired earlier this year. His assessment comes after the site laid off nearly all of its staff as part of the deal that saw 58.com buy ChinaHR from its Irish owner. Read Full Post…

INTERNET: Uber Eyes Beijing Accord, Finds Partner in Xiaomi

Bottom line: A special meeting between 8 Chinese government agencies is a positive sign for Uber and its rivals, indicating Beijing wants to forge a unified national policy to foster the development of hired car service operators.

Beijing meeting sends positive signal for Uber

The brash Uber and its rivals are seeing some encouraging signs in China, with reports that Beijing has convened a special meeting of 8 ministries to clearly define a national policy on these up-and-coming providers of hired car services. At the same time, Uber has broadened its stable of China partners by forming an alliance with homegrown smartphone sensation Xiaomi to promote their products and services in Southeast Asia. Lastly, Uber is also in a slightly troubling headline that spotlights some of risks it will face, as media in southern Guangdong province report that one of the company’s drivers may have been murdered by a customer. Read Full Post…

INTERNET: Tencent Snuffs Out Uber on WeChat

Bottom line: WeChat’s recent blockage of Uber reflects challenges the US company will face from rival car service operators and their backers in China, providing yet another obstacle as it tries to build up its local business.

Uber locked out of WeChat

A colorful war of words has broken out in China over the last week between high-flying car services provider Uber and the popular instant messaging service WeChat, providing not only some good entertainment but also valuable lessons for foreign companies doing business on the Chinese Internet. In this instance, WeChat has been blocking keyword searches on Uber, meaning users of the popular mobile messaging service can no longer access Uber’s public account or any articles with the Uber name. WeChat has given its own explanation for the blockage, blaming it on technical issues. Of course it’s probably no coincidence that WeChat’s parent Tencent (HKEx: 700) is also a major backer of rival domestic car services provider Didi Kuaidi. Read Full Post…