Core Viewpoint - Goldman Sachs maintains a "Buy" rating for Baidu Group, citing a deep restructuring of its search business by mid-2025, driven by strong AI demand and a subscription model for its cloud business [1] Group 1: Search Business - Market focus will be on the improvement of search advertising, particularly with AI search dominating results [2] - The impact of AI initiatives and cloud business demand, including growth in AI training and inference needs, will be key areas of interest [2] Group 2: Cloud Business - Cloud business revenue is expected to grow by 25% year-on-year in 2025, comparable to leading competitors like Alibaba Cloud and Tencent Cloud [3] - The growth rate may be lower than the 42% seen in the first quarter due to reliance on project revenue in earlier quarters, but strong subscription-based revenue is anticipated [3] Group 3: Autonomous Taxi Business - Baidu Apollo is rapidly expanding its global footprint through partnerships with Uber and Lyft, and testing in regions like the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Europe [4] - The fleet size is expected to grow to 2,000-3,000 vehicles by the end of 2025, with a focus on exploring a light-asset model in the second half of 2025 [4] Group 4: Valuation - The advertising/search business accounts for approximately 30% of the group's value, based on a 5x price-to-earnings ratio [5] - With net cash amounting to 90% of market capitalization, the downside risk for the stock price is considered limited [5] - Investors will be looking for updates on stock buyback and dividend policies following the appointment of the new CFO [5]

Core Viewpoint - Goldman Sachs maintains a "Buy" rating for Baidu Group, citing a significant transformation in its search business by mid-2025 driven by strong AI demand and a subscription model for its cloud business [1] Cloud Business - The cloud business is expected to grow by 25% year-on-year in 2025, aligning with the growth rates of leading competitors like Alibaba Cloud and Tencent Cloud [2] - Although earlier quarters saw growth partly reliant on project revenue, the second quarter showed strong subscription-based revenue driven by AI training and inference demand [2] Autonomous Taxi Business - Baidu Apollo has rapidly expanded its global footprint through partnerships with Uber and Lyft, and testing in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Europe [3] - The fleet size is expected to gradually increase with the deployment of the RT6 model, aiming to reach 2,000-3,000 vehicles by the end of 2025, with a focus on exploring a light-asset model in the second half of 2025 [3] Valuation - Using a sum-of-the-parts valuation method, the advertising/search business accounts for approximately 30% of the group's value, based on a 5x price-to-earnings ratio [4] - With net cash (including long-term investments) amounting to 90% of market capitalization, the downside risk for the stock price is considered limited [4] - Investors are expected to focus on potential actions regarding stock buybacks and dividend policies following the appointment of the new CFO [4]