There's Upside In Baidu Post Q2 Beat From Cloud Share Gains, Margin Execution, Analysts Say - Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU)

Baidu, Inc BIDU reported a second-quarter FY22 revenue decline of 5% year-on-year to $4.43 billion, beating the consensus.
Baidu's Non-GAAP earnings per ADS of $2.36 beat the consensus.
Mizuho analyst James Lee reiterated a Buy and price target of $275.
Results were ahead of expectations despite the macro impact and COVID lockdowns, with the outperformance from Cloud at 31% YoY revenue growth.
Lee believes the quarter validates Baidu's upfront investments in digital transformation for traditional sectors, autonomous driving in connected infrastructure, and OEM solutions.
At the same time, management executed on margins, beating expectations by five percentage points, reflecting increased cost efficiency.
With signs of continued recovery in 2H22, he feels confident about his FY24 EBITDA of 38.5 billion RMB and maintains BIDU as a top pick on China's Internet.
Lee views the stock as attractive and sees its opportunities in Cloud and autonomous driving as "call options."
Citi analyst Alicia Yap cut the price target to $204 from $223 and reiterated a Buy.
The company delivered a "solid" Q2, with total revenue relatively in line while non-GAAP operating income came in stronger than expected thanks to efficient cost optimization efforts, Yap noted.
Baidu remains well-positioned to "ride on digitalization of industrial internet, city urbanization initiatives, and carbon neutral target," he added.
Price Action: BIDU shares traded higher by 5.35% at $145.06 on the last check Wednesday.
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