5 Investors Betting Big on Baidu (BIDU) Stock Right Now

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  • Baidu (BIDU) will soon launch Ernie, an artificial intelligence chatbot.
  • BlackRock (BLK) is the largest shareholder of the company with ownership of 150.33 million shares.
  • Shares of BIDU are up by over 30% year-to-date.
BIDU stock - 5 Investors Betting Big on Baidu (BIDU) Stock Right Now

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The trend of artificial intelligence (AI) has been a major theme for 2023, and now, Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) stock is getting in on the fun. Yesterday, the Chinese internet company announced that it will launch an Enhanced Representation through Knowledge Integration bot, or Ernie bot for short. Ernie will operate as a chatbot, with internal testing expected to be completed in March. Following a successful testing process, Ernie will then be released to the public.

“What distinguishes ERNIE from other language models is its integration of extensive knowledge with massive data, resulting in exceptional understanding and generation capabilities,” explained Baidu. “It has since evolved into a series of advanced big models that are capable of handling a wide range of tasks, such as language understanding, language generation, and text-to-image generation.”

Bloomberg reports that Baidu has spent billions of dollars over the past few years on AI development. The company eventually plans on incorporating Ernie into its search platform. What this means in terms of revenue translation is still up for debate, according to Union Bancaire Privee Managing Director Vey-Sern Ling.

More details on Ernie will likely be revealed when Baidu reports its fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 22. Analysts are forecasting revenue of $4.8 billion, up 4.5% year-over-year, and earnings per share (EPS) of $2.11.

5 Investors Betting Big on BIDU Stock

Tracking institutional ownership is important, as these large investors provide liquidity and support for stocks. During Q3, a total of 493 13F filers disclosed ownership of BIDU, a decline of 57 filers from the previous quarter. Furthermore, Yahoo Finance reports that institutional shareholders own 31.32% of the float, while insiders own 1.36% of all shares outstanding. Meanwhile, the institutional put/call ratio sits at 0.89, up from 0.8. That’s equivalent to 7.92 million puts and 8.95 million calls, implying a slightly bullish options stance.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the largest shareholders of Baidu:

  1. BlackRock (NYSE:BLK): 150.33 million shares. BlackRock acquired a staggering 148.72 million shares during Q4.
  2. PRIMECAP Management Company: 9.54 million shares. PRIMECAP sold 17,550 shares during Q3.
  3. Dodge & Cox: 6.74 million shares. Dodge & Cox purchased 153,610 shares during Q3.
  4. Robin Li, CEO: 5.72 million shares. Li’s stake is accurate as of Q4 of 2020.
  5. T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ:TROW): 3.52 million shares. T. Rowe sold 132,212 shares during Q3.

On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2023/02/5-investors-betting-big-on-baidu-bidu-stock-right-now/.

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