BIDU vs BABA: Baidu vs Alibaba Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Baidu is China's AI search and autonomous driving company while Alibaba is China's dominant e-commerce and cloud infrastructure platform. Both trade as ADRs at significant discounts to US tech peers due to China regulatory and geopolitical risk. Baidu is the AI search and robotaxi pure-play; Alibaba is the commerce and cloud giant with more diversified revenue.
BIDU vs BABA is China AI search versus China e-commerce and cloud — Baidu is a higher-risk bet on AI search and autonomous driving monetization; Alibaba is a more diversified China tech holding with greater scale, e-commerce dominance, and cloud leadership.
BIDU and BABA are closely matched — they split the tracked metrics evenly. BIDU leads on both 1-year return (+27.47%) and forward P/E quality (1.77x vs 1.84x for BABA), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for BABA (+69.12%) than for BIDU (+62.92%).
- →want focused China AI search and robotaxi exposure
- →believe Ernie Bot and Apollo Go represent undervalued AI optionality
- →prefer Baidu's AI-first strategic pivot over Alibaba's e-commerce focus
- →are comfortable with China regulatory and ADR risks at lower multiples than US AI companies
- →want broader China tech exposure across e-commerce, cloud, logistics, and fintech
- →believe Alibaba's scale and Taobao/Tmall moat are defensible despite PDD competition
- →value Alibaba Cloud's AI momentum and Asian enterprise market position
- →are comfortable with Ant Group restrictions and China regulatory uncertainty at a deep-value valuation
| Metric | BIDU | BABA |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 28.7 | 42.0 |
| AI rank | #2405 | #959 |
| Latest close | $109.46 | $112.67 |
| 1M return | -5.45% | -0.13% |
| 6M return | -28.11% | -31.63% |
| 1Y return | +27.47% | +5.07% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | BIDU | BABA |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $12.75K (+27.5%) started 2025-07-14 | $10.6K (+6.0%) started 2025-07-14 |
| 5Y ago | $6.04K (-39.6%) started 2021-07-14 | $6.03K (-39.7%) started 2021-07-14 |
| 10Y ago | $6.64K (-33.6%) started 2016-07-14 | $15.6K (+56.0%) started 2016-07-14 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | BIDU | BABA |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $37.24B | $270.06B |
| Trailing P/E | N/A | 17.41 |
| Forward P/E | 1.77 | 1.84 |
| Price/Sales | 0.29 | 0.26 |
| EV/Revenue | 0.30 | 0.29 |
| Analyst target | $178.33 | $190.54 |
| Target upside | +62.92% | +69.12% |
| Metric | BIDU | BABA |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | -1.20% | 2.90% |
| Earnings growth | -59.30% | 104.10% |
| EPS growth | -59.30% | +104.10% |
| FCF margin | +6.18% | -4.31% |
| Operating margin | N/A | N/A |
| Profit margin | 1.02% | 10.12% |
| ROIC proxy | 0.32% | 9.22% |
| Return on equity | 0.32% | 9.22% |
| Dividend yield | 0.00% | 0.93% |
| Beta | 0.56 | 0.50 |
| Debt/equity | 32.20 | 25.01 |
| Current ratio | 1.85 | 1.28 |
| Quick ratio | 1.57 | 0.86 |
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | BIDU | BABA |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | +27.47% | +5.07% |
| CAGR | +27.49% | +5.07% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.64 | 0.23 | |
| Max drawdown | 36.01% | 49.47% | |
| Max daily drop | 9.75% | 8.45% | |
| Max wkly drop | 14.30% | 15.43% | |
| 5Y | Growth | -39.64% | -43.39% |
| CAGR | -9.60% | -10.76% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.03 | -0.06 | |
| Max drawdown | 58.73% | 70.60% | |
| Max daily drop | 12.58% | 12.51% | |
| Max wkly drop | 21.71% | 25.12% | |
| 10Y | Growth | -33.60% | +46.47% |
| CAGR | -4.01% | +3.89% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.04 | 0.20 | |
| Max drawdown | 77.47% | 80.09% | |
| Max daily drop | 16.52% | 13.34% | |
| Max wkly drop | 26.18% | 25.12% |
| Category | BIDU | BABA |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Baidu, Inc. | Alibaba Group Holding Limited |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | N/A | N/A |
| Core business | China's dominant AI-powered search engine, Ernie Bot LLM, Baidu AI Cloud, and Apollo autonomous driving platform. Baidu's advertising revenue comes from search placements while cloud and AI services are growing contributors. | China's largest e-commerce platform (Taobao, Tmall), Alibaba Cloud (Asia's leading cloud provider), international commerce (AliExpress, Lazada), logistics (Cainiao), digital media, and fintech (Ant Group stake). |
| Investor focus | Ernie Bot monetization, AI Cloud acceleration, Apollo Go commercialization, and stabilization of the advertising business. | China retail commerce recovery, Alibaba Cloud AI growth, international e-commerce expansion, Ant Group IPO potential, and cost structure rationalization. |
- →Dominant search market position in China gives Baidu the primary AI search integration advantage vs rivals
- →Apollo Go robotaxi is among the world's most operationally advanced autonomous vehicle programs
- →Ernie Bot's deep search integration creates a defensible AI assistant moat within China
- →Taobao and Tmall are the dominant China e-commerce marketplaces with hundreds of millions of buyers and sellers
- →Alibaba Cloud is the leading public cloud in China and Asia, growing rapidly with AI services
- →International commerce (AliExpress, Lazada, Trendyol) provides geographic diversification beyond China
- →Online advertising market in China has been weaker than expected amid economic slowdown
- →ByteDance's Douyin and Tencent's ecosystem reduce Baidu's content discovery relevance
- →China regulatory environment and ADR structure add geopolitical investment risk
- →PDD Holdings (Temu/Pinduoduo) and JD.com are taking e-commerce market share in China with aggressive pricing
- →Ant Group remains restricted from IPO following the 2020 regulatory action by Chinese authorities
- →China e-commerce growth is slowing and competitive pressure from Douyin (TikTok Shop) is increasing
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