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BIDU: Long Term Positives In Autonomous EV Initiatives Are Likely To Offset The Near Term Pressure On Its Marketing Business In 4Q21 And 1Q22

BIDU will report 4Q21 results on March 1st before the markets open with a 7:30am EST conference call. We are neutral on BIDU’s 4Q21 earnings as the weakness in China’s economy has negative impacts to its short-term growth. However, looking beyond the current quarter, we believe BIDU’s autonomous EV initiatives are likely to bring new growth and better valuation to the stock. As announced, BIDU’s autonomous EV is likely to start mass production in 2023, and we are likely to see a prototype in the April auto show in China. Baidu Apollo was the first to obtain a pilot license for commercialized services in Beijing, and its autonomous driving travel service platform Apollo Go ushered its first commercial order in November 2021. We are positive on BIDU’s long-term outlook, as the company continues to invest heavily in unmanned driving, which we believe are new growth engines for BIDU.