Future Fund Partner Gary Black says Baidu Inc BIDU poses strong competition for Elon Musk's Tesla Inc TSLA after the company unveiled its new autonomous vehicle (AV) with a detachable steering wheel.
What Happened: Chinese search engine giant Baidu yesterday unveiled a crewless vehicle — with the aim to start mass production of autonomous cars without a steering wheel or pedals in 2024.
Baidu said it plans to use its fully electric vehicle, the Apollo RT6, in China next year for its robotaxi services.
"Worth watching. Baidu's Robin Li has high credibility and, at $37K per L4 robotaxi, would likely change narrative among Tesla uberbulls that only Tesla can scale up a robotaxi fleet. Others will be there too," Black said, sharing Benzinga's earlier story on Twitter.
Other analysts also believe Baidu's new launch will mint more money for its investors.
Analyst Bo Pei in his research report noted that the company had made solid progress in monetizing its novel areas, with revenue contribution up significantly in the past two years.
"Post event, we feel more optimistic about BIDU's AI outlook and believe BIDU is one of a few Chinese Internet companies that have successfully found new growth engines," Pei said.
The analyst kept the price target for its stock unchanged at $245 a piece.
Price Action: Hong Kong-listed shares of Baidu ended Friday's session 0.72% higher, while in premarket trading in the U.S., Baidu's ADR was down 1.09%, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
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Photo: Courtesy of Baidu
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