Investors have found Baidu's story riveting.

　　投資者發現，百度的故事引人入勝。

　　And with good reason. It is the dominant search engine in the fastest-growing large economy in the world. Throw in an e-commerce sector that grew 73% to $68 billion in 2010, according to Morgan Stanley, and the opportunity looms large.

　　這么說有充分的理由。百度是中國這個全球增長最快的大型經濟體中占主導地位的搜索引擎。該公司投身于電子商務領域，據摩根士丹利說，中國電子商務市場在2010年達到680億美元的規模，增幅為73%，百度的市場機會正逐漸顯現。

　　For its part, Baidu has done little to disappoint. Revenue grew 78% year-on-year in 2010. The outlook for results in the first quarter of 2011, due to be reported next week, is similarly solid. Management guidance is for year-on-year revenue growth of 84% to 89%.

　　百度自己的業績也很不錯。公司2010年的收入較上年增長78%。將于下周公布的2011年第一季度業績看來也會同樣不錯。公司管理層給出的業績預期是，百度這一季度的收入將較上年同期增長84%至89%。

　　Baidu also stacks up well against others in China's e-commerce sector. Proven technology, a 75% share of the mainland's search market and several years of real and growing profits look impressive. That is especially the case when it is compared to pricier plays like video-sharing platform Youku, which operates in a more competitive space and has yet to move into the black. True, negative chatter about copyright violations continues but has done little to dent business growth or investor appetite.

　　Bloomberg News百度公司2010年的收入較上年增長78%，將于下周公布的2011年第一季度業績看來也會同樣不錯。上圖為去年9月在北京舉辦的百度技術創新大會。與中國電子商務市場上的同行相比，百度同樣毫不遜色。成熟的技術，內地搜索市場75%的份額，多年真實且還在不斷上升的利潤令人印象深刻。與股價更貴的對手比如視頻共享平臺優酷相比，上述優勢就更加明顯了。優酷所處領域的競爭更加激烈，它還沒有實現盈利。的確，有關百度侵犯版權的負面言論持續不斷，但這并沒有削弱公司的業務增長或投資者的胃口。

　　The catch is that with the China e-commerce story now well-known, Baidu will have to find new ways to impress investors. Some are in the works already, but as Google investors know, adding to search supremacy is no easy task.

　　美中不足的是，中國電子商務的故事已經眾所周知，百度將不得不尋找新的途徑來打動投資者。其中一些已經在計劃中，但就像谷歌的投資者都知道的，想要增加搜索引擎的優勢并不容易。

　　Qiyi, Baidu's new online video platform, already has generated significant traffic, but has yet to show a profit. Baidu also is testing a Web browser that will contest the space occupied by Microsoft and Google, although given the competition, success is far from assured.

　　百度旗下新的網絡視頻播放平臺奇藝已經產生了巨大的流量，但至今還沒有盈利。百度也正在測試一個網絡瀏覽器，將和微軟與谷歌爭奪市場份額。只是由于競爭激烈，成功還遠遠沒有保證。

　　Plus, Baidu's stock isn't cheap. The shares are up more than 50% this year. A price/earnings ratio of 60 may be justified by expected earnings growth, but suggests limited upside. Earnings growth in 2010, meanwhile, was flattered by the departure of Google from the Chinese market -- gifting Baidu an extra chunk of market share. The company also benefited from comparisons to a relatively weak 2009.

　　另外，百度的股價并不便宜。今年以來該公司股價累計上漲超過50%。由于預計利潤還將增加，當前60倍的市盈率還算合理，但也意味著上漲空間有限。與此同時，2010的利潤由于谷歌撤出中國市場而顯得較為好看。谷歌的撤出也令百度擴大了市場份額。由于2009年的業績相對較弱，在做比較時百度也占了便宜。

　　Macroeconomic headwinds also may loom, even if Baidu's advertising-driven model is defensive relative to some other China Internet stocks. Slower economic growth and higher inflation would also strip some of the glamour from China's Internet story. So while Baidu continues to wow, the bar is getting higher.

　　宏觀經濟的不利因素也正在顯現，雖然相對其它中國互聯網股票來說，百度依靠廣告驅動的業務模式使其具有更大的抗跌性。經濟增長放緩和通脹率提高也降低了中國互聯網故事的魅力。因此，盡管百度還是令人稱贊，但其發展面臨的障礙也越來越多。