Sakazaki examines the Baidu horizon

One of the better posts on Baidu that I have seen. Perhaps the best, actually. Lloyd Sakazaki doesn't purport that Baidu is a cheap stock here, and his breakdown of the numbers support his contention that time is on the stock's side.

Sakazaki: Is Now the Time to Buy Baidu Stock?

Among these U.S.-and China-based Internet companies, only Google and Baidu still show annual growth rates exceeding 50%. For 2007, Google's revenue is expected to expand to 58% above its 2006 level, while Baidu's revenue is forecast to surge 108%. For 2008, while consensus estimates show Google's growth slowing to 37%, Baidu's growth is projected at 78%. The message here is that China, being a younger Internet market with still only about 10% of its 1.3 billion population online, (pdf file) exhibits higher growth.

Is Sakazaki right about the growth rate? If he is, I'll be the first to crown him Genius of Baiduville. I hope he's right, frankly, and I still don't think the government would let its search engine leader lose to invader Google. Haven't you seen the morbid, yet amusing TV commercial?