Baidu downgraded to Neutral at JPMorgan on lower earnings visibility

As previously reported, JPMorgan downgraded Baidu (BIDU) to Neutral from Overweight with a price target of $87, down from $130, citing sharply decreasing earnings visibility as a result of uncertainty around the pace of the macro recovery and uncertainty around the negative impact on monetization from its gen AI content deployment. The firm, which cut its 2025 Baidu adjusted EPS view by 21%, making it 17% lower than Bloomberg consensus, forecasts Baidu core ads revenue growth weakness will bottom out in Q1 of 2025, followed by acceleration in each of the following quarters, but says the pace of recovery is unclear and consensus estimates have downside risk.