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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 … )
Shanghai may be famous for its entrepreneurial spirit, but its track record isn’t quite so stellar when it comes to nurturing top entrepreneurs. That could be starting to change, however, with word that Dalian Wanda Group, one of China’s most dynamic companies, plans to move its headquarters to Shanghai from its current location in Beijing.
As a longtime foreigner living in Shanghai, I’ve always been surprised by the relatively small number of major private companies for a city of our size. We should certainly be proud of some of our city’s most outstanding entrepreneurs, with names like Guo Guangchang of Fosun Group and Spring Airlines (Shenzhen: 601021) Chairman Wang Zhenghua as 2 outstanding examples. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Online real estate stocks could resume their rebound if their latest forecasts are accurate, while Youku Tudou shares are holding steady despite widening losses on hopes for a merger deal with iQiyi.
Online real estate stocks drop on weak earnings
This week marks the height of earnings season for US-listed Chinese stocks, prompting me to look at a quartet of struggling companies in the real estate and online video spaces that have just reported results. The former category has seen the trio of SouFun (NYSE: SFUN), E-House (NYSE: EJ) and Leju (NYSE: LEJU) all release their earnings over the last 2 days, revealing gloomy results as an ongoing correction shows no signs of easing in China’s real estate market. Meantime, former online video leader Youku Tudou’s (NYSE: YOKU) latest results also look weak, showing the company’s losses ballooned as it continues to search for an elusive model for long-term profitability. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: A Yidao Yongche merger with Uber China continues the rapid consolidation in China’s hired car services, which could be followed soon by a successful bid by Uber and Baidu for Nokia’s digital mapping division.
Yidao Yongche to merge with Uber China
Rapid consolidation is taking place in China’s hired car services market, with word that a new alliance is shaping up between major local player Yidao Yongche and an existing tie-up between global giant Uber and local Internet search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU). As a longtime Chinese Internet watcher, I’m quite surprised at the sudden and rapid speed of consolidation in this particular sector, since such consolidation in other areas tends to be a slow and painful process that often takes years.
A major factor behind this sudden and rapid consolidation could be the participation by all 3 of China’s top Internet players, including Baidu, alongside social networking giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) and e-commerce leader Alibaba (NYSE: BABA). Two of those companies are also involved in a related headline that is seeing Baidu and Tencent making separate bids for the digital mapping division being sold off by former cellphone giant Nokia (Helsinki: NOK1V). Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 20. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Uber Joins Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) As Nokia’s Maps Unit Draws Multiple Bidders (English article)
Bank of Communications (HKEx: 3328) Agrees To Buy 80 Pct Of Brazil’s BBM (English article)
China’s Unigroup Says Wins Bid To Buy 51 Pct Stake In HP (NYSE: HP) Unit (English article)
Bottom line: Shares of Youku Tudou and Vipshop are likely to remain stable over the next few weeks, as the former moves towards a rumored merger with iQiyi and the latter fends off a short seller attack.
Vipshop likely to fend off short seller attack
Two stories with big implications for individual company stocks are in the news as we begin the new week, led by a denial from Baidu-backed (Nasdaq: BIDU) online video site iQiyi that it’s in talks for a merger with large rival Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU). The other big news has high-flying discount e-commerce site Vipshop (NYSE: VIPS) coming under a short-seller attack, prompting it to issue not one but two separate statements denying the allegations. The week ahead could be bumpy for both of these stocks, which is why I’m weighing in with my own view of what may be happening behind the scenes. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: A merger between Youku Tudou and iQiyi looks like a strong possibility because it would greatly benefit both companies, creating a clear market leader to rival LeTV and traditional broadcasters.
Youku Tudou in merger talks with iQiyi?
Rumors that former online video leader Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) is in talks to merge with rival iQiyi have reignited interest in the former’s beleaguered stock, as investors get excited about another landmark deal in the space. Youku Tudou’s shares soared 17 percent in the latest trading session, and have now nearly doubled since the beginning of April.
The sourcing is quite vague on the reported talks for a merger with iQiyi, which is owned by online search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU). But I would give the reports a strong chance of being true, as this kind of a move seems consistent with past behavior of Youku Tudou’s CEO Victor Koo, who is highly practical and thus would seriously consider selling his company if such a move made financial sense. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Baidu’s crackdown on internal corruption and big jump in a ranking of global media firms are both good publicity, but won’t change the fact that it’s facing sharply slowing growth over the next year.
Baidu probes 3 directors for corruption
Following a bruising battle with some of its leading advertisers in March, leading search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) is in the headlines this week on a more positive note with a report it is cracking down on internal corruption. At the same time Baidu is in a separate similarly positive headline that shows it is quickly climbing the ladder on a list of global media companies, surpassing much older rivals like Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT).
The first of these headlines casts a spotlight on the many corrupt practices that frequently occur in China’s young business culture, such as preferential treatment for customers who pay “special” fees and bribe individual employees. Such practices were almost certainly a factor behind the high-profile spat that saw one of China’s largest associations of hospital owners boycott Baidu’s advertising services in March, dealing a significant blow to Baidu. (previous post) Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 12. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Smartphone Shipments Fall 4 Pct In Q1: IDC Report (English article)
Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Probes 3 Directors For Possible Internal Corruption (Chinese article)
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook Opens Weibo (Nasdaq: WB) Account (Chinese article)
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) Invests $56 Mln In Child Products Site Zulily (Nasdaq: ZU) (Chinese article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on May 5. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China Said To Probe Medical Device Firms On Bribe Suspicions (English article)
Bottom line: The revocation of global certification for Qihoo’s security software by 3 European bodies will undermine the company’s credibility and hamper its drive to go global, putting pressure on its stock for the next few months.
European bodies revoke Qihoo accreditation
Security software specialist Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) is finding itself in the middle of a global scandal, with word that several European accreditation bodies have refused to certify its core security software products due to the company’s misleading business practices. The case comes as an embarrassment to Qihoo, which is used to and largely ignores such scandals when they occur in its home market where such practices are relatively common.
But as Qihoo and its peers attempt to go global, they are quickly discovering that many of the things they do at home fall well below the standards set by global bodies, especially in the west. That won’t be too helpful for Chinese tech giants like Qihoo, Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), Xiaomi and Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), which are all trying to show the world and investors that they can compete outside their highly protected home market where standards are often a bit lower than in the west. Read Full Post…
Bottom line: Baidu could be entering a period of profit erosion that will put pressure on its stock, while Tencent’s latest investment hints it could be preparing to roll out a global gaming platform by the end of this year.
Baidu profit drops
China’s Internet “Big 3” of Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) and Tencent (HKEx: 700) are often in the news on any given week, but we’re seeing a rare instance where all 3 are in the headlines on this final work day before the May 1 break. Baidu is leading off the BAT headlines with the release of its latest quarterly earnings that are led by a rare profit decline due to soaring expenses.
Rising costs may have also been a factor in the Alibaba news, which has the company freezing its global headcount for the rest of the year as it tries to rationalize itself after a period a breakneck growth. Last but not least is Tencent, whose relatively large purchase of a stake in a US gaming firm hints at the direction it will take in its overseas expansion. Read Full Post…
