Tencent is attractively valued when excluding its investment portfolio and cash. Despite debates about its AI strategy, the underlying valuation is compelling. Citi has a buy recommendation.
Baidu revenue dropped for the 3rd consecutive quarter, and the stock has sold off. However, the company holds ~$42 billion in net cash and liquid assets. The market is valuing the legacy search business at near zero. The current valuation ignores the cash pile and the potential value unlock from spinning off its AI chip unit (Kunlun) and cloud business. LONG (Deep Value Play). Continued erosion of the core advertising business by competitors like Tencent and ByteDance could make the "value trap" argument persist.
Baidu revenue dropped for the 3rd consecutive quarter, and the stock has sold off. However, the company holds ~$42 billion in net cash and liquid assets. The market is valuing the legacy search business at near zero. The current valuation ignores the cash pile and the potential value unlock from spinning off its AI chip unit (Kunlun) and cloud business. LONG (Deep Value Play). Continued erosion of the core advertising business by competitors like Tencent and ByteDance could make the "value trap" argument persist.