Baidu (BIDU) shares are in focus after the company made its ERNIE large language models (LLMs) open source – effectively enabling the global AI community to use them for R&D. 

Note that Baidu’s ERNIE 4.5 series outperforms DeepSeek’s V3 model on a significant number of benchmarks across key capability categories. 

Still, Baidu stock is down some 19% versus its year-to-date high at the time of writing. 

Baidu Stock to Benefit From ERNIE Adoption

Baidu shares stand to benefit rather significantly from management’s decision to open source ERNIE models. 

By making its LLMs freely available under the Apache 2.0 license, BIDU invites global developers to build, fine-tune, and deploy on its architecture – accelerating adoption and ecosystem growth. 

Baidu’s move mirrors the success of DeepSeek’s open-source strategy, which reshaped China’s AI landscape. The open-source release also enhances transparency and trust – potentially attracting enterprise and government partnerships. 

In short, the announcement positions BIDU as a foundational platform – a shift that could unlock long-term monetization and valuation upside. 

BofA Sees Upside in BIDU Shares to $100

Baidu stock hasn’t been particularly exciting for investors this year, but Miranda Zhuang – a Bank of America analyst – recommends owning it for the long term. 

Zhuang is bullish on BIDU shares primarily because the Beijing-headquartered firm has already launched fully autonomous vehicle operations in China. 

Moreover, Baidu is fully committed to expanding its robotaxi services internationally, which she’s convinced will drive incremental revenue growth in the years ahead. 

Integrating artificial intelligence will help BIDU reinvigorate growth in its advertising business as well, according to the BofA analyst. 

Miranda Zhuang currently has a “Buy” rating on Baidu shares and a price target of $100, indicating potential upside of another 18% from here. 

Does Wall Street Agree With BofA on Baidu?

Other Wall Street firms also expect BIDU shares to extend gains as the Chinese tech behemoth continues to tap on artificial intelligence in pursuit of lower costs and higher returns.  

At the time of writing, the consensus rating on Baidu stock sits at “Moderate Buy” with the mean target of about $105 indicating potential upside of some 22% from current levels.