Alphabet (GOOGL) vs. Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) Head-To-Head Analysis

Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitabiliy, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

34.3% of Alphabet shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.4% of Baidu shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.2% of Alphabet shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 16.7% of Baidu shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Alphabet has a beta of 1, suggesting that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Baidu has a beta of 1.91, suggesting that its stock price is 91% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Alphabet and Baidu’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alphabet	21.84%	15.16%	12.65%
Baidu	15.92%	12.27%	6.31%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Alphabet and Baidu, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alphabet	1	6	38	0	2.82
Baidu	2	12	8	0	2.27

Alphabet currently has a consensus price target of $1,023.92, suggesting a potential upside of 3.03%. Baidu has a consensus price target of $186.89, suggesting a potential downside of 3.25%. Given Alphabet’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Alphabet is more favorable than Baidu.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Alphabet and Baidu’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alphabet	$94.77 billion	7.25	$31.21 billion	$29.54	33.64
Baidu	$10.55 billion	6.35	$2.80 billion	$4.64	41.63

Alphabet has higher revenue and earnings than Baidu. Alphabet is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Baidu, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Alphabet beats Baidu on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

Alphabet Company Profile

Alphabet Inc. is a holding company. The Company’s businesses include Google Inc. (Google) and its Internet products, such as Access, Calico, CapitalG, GV, Nest, Verily, Waymo and X. The Company’s segments include Google and Other Bets. The Google segment includes its Internet products, such as Search, Ads, Commerce, Maps, YouTube, Google Cloud, Android, Chrome and Google Play, as well as its hardware initiatives. The Google segment is engaged in advertising, sales of digital content, applications and cloud offerings, and sales of hardware products. The Other Bets segment is engaged in the sales of Internet and television services through Google Fiber, sales of Nest products and services, and licensing and research and development (R&D) services through Verily. It offers Google Assistant, which allows users to type or talk with Google; Google Maps, which helps users navigate to a store, and Google Photos, which helps users store and organize all of their photos.

Baidu Company Profile

Baidu, Inc. is a Chinese language Internet search provider. The Company offers a Chinese language search platform on its Baidu.com Website that enables users to find information online, including Webpages, news, images, documents and multimedia files, through links provided on its Website. In addition to serving individual Internet search users, the Company provides a platform for businesses to reach customers. Its business consists of three segments: search services, transaction services and iQiyi. Search services are keyword-based marketing services targeted at and triggered by Internet users’ search queries, which mainly include its pay-for-performance (P4P) services and other online marketing services. Its transaction services include Baidu Nuomi, Baidu Takeout Delivery, Baidu Maps, Baidu Connect, Baidu Wallet and others. iQiyi is an online video platform with a content library that includes licensed movies, television series, cartoons, variety shows and other programs.