【Haitong International: Downgrades Baidu's Target Price to $102 with Conservative Outlook】Jin10 Data, December 4th - Haitong International released a report stating that it maintains its core advertising forecast for Baidu (BIDU.O) for the fourth fiscal quarter, keeping the previously estimated annual growth rate at -9.5%, and the annual growth rate for cloud services unchanged at 13%. Considering Baidu's recent organizational adjustments, the shift of revenue mix to low-profit businesses, and investments related to LLM, the forecast for the fourth fiscal quarter's Non-GAAP core operating profit margin has been further downgraded from 21% to 19%. Therefore, the forecasts for core revenue and Non-GAAP core operating profit for the fiscal year 2024 are set at 102.7 billion RMB and 24.3 billion RMB respectively, with a corresponding profit margin of 24%, a year-on-year decrease of 0.5 percentage points. Haitong International expects Baidu's core advertising business to still be under pressure in the first quarter of next year, but it is anticipated to improve quarter by quarter due to macroeconomic recovery and increased advertising demand driven by LLM. The firm stated that Baidu has a conservative outlook, lowering the target price from $108 to $102, while maintaining an 'Outperform' rating. (Source: Jin10 Data)