Head-To-Head Survey: Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) vs. Dropbox (NASDAQ:DBX)

Dropbox (NASDAQ:DBX) and Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, risk and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Dropbox and Baidu, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dropbox	1	3	1	0	2.00
Baidu	1	5	15	1	2.73

Dropbox presently has a consensus target price of $27.50, suggesting a potential upside of 2.65%. Baidu has a consensus target price of $157.89, suggesting a potential upside of 32.62%. Given Baidu’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Baidu is more favorable than Dropbox.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Dropbox and Baidu”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dropbox	$2.52 billion	2.56	$508.40 million	$1.86	14.40
Baidu	$129.08 billion	0.32	$799.00 million	$1.59	74.87

Baidu has higher revenue and earnings than Dropbox. Dropbox is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Baidu, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.8% of Dropbox shares are held by institutional investors. 28.6% of Dropbox shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 16.7% of Baidu shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Dropbox and Baidu’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dropbox	20.17%	-37.47%	18.80%
Baidu	4.21%	5.63%	3.50%

Volatility and Risk

Dropbox has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Baidu has a beta of 0.32, indicating that its share price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Baidu beats Dropbox on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Dropbox

Dropbox, Inc. provides a content collaboration platform worldwide. The company's platform allows individuals, families, teams, and organizations to collaborate and sign up for free through its website or app, as well as upgrade to a paid subscription plan for premium features. It serves customers in professional services, technology, media, education, industrial, consumer and retail, and financial services industries. The company was formerly known as Evenflow, Inc. and changed its name to Dropbox, Inc. in October 2009. Dropbox, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About Baidu

Baidu, Inc. engages in the provision of internet search services in China. It operates through two segments: Baidu Core and iQIYI. The company offers Baidu App to access search, feed, and other services using mobile devices; Baidu Search to access its search and other services; Baidu Feed that provides users with personalized timeline based on their demographics and interests; Baidu Health that helps users to find the doctor and hospital for healthcare needs; and Haokan, a short video app. It also provides Baidu Knows, an online community where users can ask questions to other users; Baidu Wiki; Baidu Experience; Baidu Post; ERNIE Bot, conversational AI bot; Baidu Wenku; Baidu Maps, a voice-enabled mobile app that provides travel-related services; Baidu Drive; Baijiahao; and DuerOS, a smart assistant platform. In addition, it offers online marketing services, which include pay for performance, an auction-based services that allow customers to bid for priority placement of paid sponsored links and reach users who search for information related to their products or services; other marketing services that include display-based marketing services and other online marketing services based on performance criteria other than cost per click; mobile ecosystem, a portfolio of apps, including Baidu App, Haokan, and Baidu Post; various cloud services and solutions, such as platform as a service, software as a service, and infrastructure as a service; self-driving services, including maps, automated valet parking, navigation pilot, electric vehicles, and robotaxi fleets, as well as Xiaodu smart devices. Further, the company provides iQIYI, an online entertainment service, including original and licensed content; other video content and membership; and online advertising services. It has strategic partnership with Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. The company was formerly known as Baidu.com, Inc. Baidu, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Beijing, China.