Baidu Inc. (BIDU) ended the recent trading session at $91.93, demonstrating a +0.33% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.67% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.56%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.87%.

The web search company's stock has climbed by 5.14% in the past month, exceeding the Computer and Technology sector's loss of 7.99% and the S&P 500's loss of 5.28%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Baidu Inc. in its upcoming earnings disclosure. On that day, Baidu Inc. is projected to report earnings of $1.79 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 35.14%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $4.34 billion, down 0.64% from the prior-year quarter.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $10.08 per share and a revenue of $18.73 billion, representing changes of -4.27% and +1.31%, respectively, from the prior year.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Baidu Inc. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 6% higher. Baidu Inc. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).

Digging into valuation, Baidu Inc. currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.09. This denotes a discount relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 25.03.

Investors should also note that BIDU has a PEG ratio of 2.17 right now. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The average PEG ratio for the Internet - Services industry stood at 1.32 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Internet - Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 140, which puts it in the bottom 44% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Baidu, Inc. (BIDU) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research