We recently published a list of the 10 Best Chinese Stocks to Buy According to Billionaires. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) stands against the other Chinese stocks held by billionaires.
The People’s Bank of China’s (PBoC) monetary easing and government stimulus have lifted the valuations of Chinese equities. A few months ago, many investors were expecting the U.S. economy to be in a better position and Chinese stocks were facing significant regulatory worries. However, the tables have turned with the Chinese economy expected to be in a better position compared to 2024.
A Positive Outlook for China
Things have taken a wild turn with the U.S. president imposing high tariffs and investors expecting an economic slowdown in the U.S. On the other hand, China’s advancement in AI and its capabilities to grow its AI infrastructure have intensified since the launch of DeepSeek’s R1 model.
“The U.S. has had a good period, and that’s coming to an end because Trump’s policies are very anti-economy. China has had a very bad period, but it looks as if it’s starting to recover,” Richard Harris, CEO of Port Shelter Investment Management, told CNBC.
Chinese government support for its technology sector has induced much optimism among investors. The Hang Seng Tech Index, which tracks some of the largest Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong, has soared over 21% year-to-date, as of March 25. At the same time, the NASDAQ 100 index, covering the U.S. tech stocks, has plunged over 3.70%. Whereas, the Shanghai Composite Index has risen over 3% compared to a drop of 1.70% in the S&P 500 index.
“Performance of the HSCEI/MSCI China in the past 17 months trended closely to the trajectory a decade ago, making us worry that we might be approaching some correction soon,” analysts at the Bank of America wrote in a report published on March 17.
Harris believes that China’s A shares have been quite depressed for some time compared to the U.S. stocks. With valuation improvements and optimism in the tech sector in China, it is a good time to explore Chinese stocks.
360b / Shutterstock.com
Our Methodology
To compile our list of the best Chinese stocks to buy according to billionaires, we looked for the Chinese stocks widely held by billionaires. Data for the number of billionaire investors for each stock was taken from Insider Monkey’s database, updated as of Q4 2024. Finally, the 10 best Chinese stocks to buy were ranked in ascending order based on the number of billionaires holding stakes in them. We have also mentioned the number of hedge funds that held these stocks as of Q4 2024.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU)
No. of Billionaire Investors: 9
Total Billionaire Stake: $265.1 Million
No. of Hedge Fund Holders: 50
Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) is a Chinese Internet search provider, also known as the Chinese Google. It offers a Chinese-language search platform that allows users to search for information online. The company operates through two segments including the Baidu Core segment and the iQIYI segment. Its core segment provides products and services including Mobile Ecosystem, Baidu AI Cloud, and Intelligent Driving & Other Growth Initiatives. Whereas, iQIYI functions as an online entertainment service provider.
Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) recently launched two new AI models, ERNIE 4.5 and ERNIE X1, making them freely available to individual users ahead of schedule. These AI models will be available from ERNIE Bot’s official platform, aiming to enhance user involvement across its platforms. Baidu plans to combine these models into its larger ecosystem including Baidu Search and the Wenxiaoyan app.
On February 19, Benchmark analyst Fawne Jiang reiterated a Buy rating on BIDU shares, maintaining the price target at $130 per share. Jiang believes that the growing adoption of GenAI in China, driven by advancements from DeepSeek, will have a positive impact on companies such as Baidu. With a robust gross margin of 50.35% and annual revenue of $18.29 billion in 2024, Baidu’s strategy to open-source its ERNIE 4.5 series and provide free access to ERNIE Bot will increase broader adoption of these technologies.
Overall BIDU ranks 9th on our list of the Chinese stocks to buy according to billionaires. While we acknowledge the potential of BIDU as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than BIDU but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks To Invest In According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
