Baidu slides as Q4 profit miss and ad weakness overshadow AI growth updates

Baidu, Inc. (BIDU) is down 6.6% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The move appears tied to Baidu’s fourth-quarter results, where profit fell sharply and key figures came in weaker than many investors expected. Even with solid growth in Baidu’s AI-related lines, the market reaction suggests concerns that AI momentum is not yet offsetting pressure in the legacy advertising-driven business.

Details:

Baidu released unaudited fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results showing Q4 net profit of RMB 1.78 billion and Q4 revenue of RMB 32.74 billion, both down year over year.

Management highlighted that “Baidu Core AI-powered Business” revenue reached RMB 11.3 billion in Q4 (up 48% year over year) and represented 43% of Baidu General Business revenue, signaling continued product and cloud traction.

The earnings release also described ongoing progress in AI cloud infrastructure and AI applications, but investors appeared focused on profitability compression and weakness tied to advertising demand.

Baidu also disclosed a new authorization to repurchase up to US$5 billion of shares through Dec. 31, 2028, plus a first-ever dividend policy, but these capital-return signals did not prevent the immediate selloff.

Sources:

PR Newswire, Barron’s, MarketScreener

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$BIDU Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 270 institutional investors add shares of $BIDU stock to their portfolio, and 255 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

DODGE & COX removed 4,387,885 shares (-99.6%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $573,321,054
HSBC HOLDINGS PLC added 1,999,110 shares (+1472.6%) to their portfolio in Q3 2025, for an estimated $263,422,724
BLACKROCK, INC. removed 1,858,459 shares (-88.0%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $242,826,252
HHLR ADVISORS, LTD. removed 1,641,000 shares (-100.0%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $214,413,060
RPD FUND MANAGEMENT LLC removed 1,258,856 shares (-100.0%) from their portfolio in Q3 2025, for an estimated $165,879,455
MACQUARIE GROUP LTD removed 1,032,502 shares (-99.6%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $134,906,711
PRIMECAP MANAGEMENT CO/CA/ removed 1,008,700 shares (-8.3%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $131,796,742

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard.

$BIDU Analyst Ratings

Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $BIDU in the last several months. We have seen 7 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 0 firms issue sell ratings.

Here are some recent analyst ratings:

JP Morgan issued a "Overweight" rating on 11/24/2025
Goldman Sachs issued a "Buy" rating on 11/19/2025
B of A Securities issued a "Buy" rating on 11/19/2025
Benchmark issued a "Buy" rating on 11/19/2025
Macquarie issued a "Outperform" rating on 10/10/2025
DBS Bank issued a "Buy" rating on 09/25/2025
Arete Research issued a "Buy" rating on 09/16/2025

To track analyst ratings and price targets for $BIDU, check out Quiver Quantitative's $BIDU forecast page.

$BIDU Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $BIDU recently. We have seen 12 analysts offer price targets for $BIDU in the last 6 months, with a median target of $156.5.

Here are some recent targets:

Jiong Shao from Barclays set a target price of $147.0 on 01/26/2026
Roman Lukianchikov from Freedom Capital Markets set a target price of $160.0 on 01/07/2026
Thomas Chong from Jefferies set a target price of $181.0 on 01/02/2026
Alex Yao from JP Morgan set a target price of $188.0 on 11/24/2025
Lincoln Kong from Goldman Sachs set a target price of $155.0 on 11/19/2025
Fawne Jiang from Benchmark set a target price of $158.0 on 11/19/2025
Gary Yu from Morgan Stanley set a target price of $130.0 on 11/19/2025

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.