Baidu Share Price: Bearish Outlook Remains Despite Surprise Q2 Earnings

Summary:

The Baidu share price continues to face downward pressure, despite the surprisingly upbeat Q2 2021 earnings report amid pessimistic forward guidance.

The Baidu share price bounced off session lows after the company reported adjusted Q2 2021 earnings of $2.39 per ADR share. This equates to 15.41 yuan per ADR share, which beat analysts’ expectations of $2.06 (13.32 yuan). The figure also represented growth from the $2.28 (14.73 yuan) the company earned in the same period a year earlier.

Revenues came in at 31.35 billion yuan, which was an improvement over the 26.03 billion yuan the company earned in the second quarter of 2020. The figure also beat the market consensus figure of 31.02 billion yuan.

In its forward guidance for the 3rd quarter, the company expects to earn between 30.6 billion and 33.5 billion yuan. In other words, the Chinese search engine company was not expecting to grow revenues in the third quarter. The less-than-optimistic forward guidance provided appears to be weighing on the stock price of Baidu, as its American Deposit Receipt (ADR) shares are trading at 2.09% in the red.

Baidu Share Price Outlook

The decline in the Baidu share price could continue if the price breaks below the consolidation area that is evolving into a bearish pennant pattern on the daily chart.

This could set up a price decline that targets a measured move towards 131.14. This move would need to take out sequential support levels at 153.03, 147.80 (7 December 2020 high) and 138.76 (2 December 2020 low).

On the flip side, a break above 169.22 takes out the consolidation area’s upper boundary. This move could allow the bulls to aim for 177.31, with the 23 December 2020 low/16 July high at 185.87 serving as an additional upside target. This move invalidates the pennant.