Baidu price target raised to $176 from $166 at Citi

Citi analyst Alicia Yap raised the firm’s price target on Baidu to $176 from $166 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares heading into the Q4 results. Following a slow start in January and February, business activities and advertisers’ budget sentiment should recover gradually post Chinese New Year, the analyst tells investors in a research note. If the recovery speed appears stronger than expected in March, there are upside risks to Baidu’s consensus ad revenue estimates for Q1, says Citi.