Baidu: Street Estimates Are Heading South

Earnings estimates for Baidu (BIDU) continue to head lower in the wake of the recent controversy over search-related advertising on the site by unlicensed medical companies. A pair of analysts who are otherwise bullish on the stock today chopped their forecasts for the China-based Internet company.

Dick Wei, a Hong Kong based analyst at J.P. Morgan, today cut his earnings forecasts for the company by five percent for this year and 19 percent for 2009, citing weaker revenue from the medical and pharmaceutical sector given actions the company has taken to block some advertisers in the wake of the recent controversy, as well as macro headwinds that he thinks could impact online ad spending by small- and medium-sized businesses.

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