Investopedia: Should Investors Ride Along With Ctrip?

As growth in the U.S. looks increasingly shaky and investors try to figure out which listed Chinese companies tell the truth, well-established names like Baidu (Nasdaq:BIDU) and Ctrip (Nasdaq:CTRP) seem to be getting a little extra love. The question, though, is whether Ctrip's valuation already more than credits the company for its likely impressive future growth in China's travel industry. 

Some Reasons for Concern in Q2  
Top line revenue for Ctrip was a solid 20% and in line with analyst expectations. Hotel booking is still the largest individual revenue component and grew about 16%. Air ticketing was weaker, though, as lower commissions offset higher volume, and growth came in at 13%. Packaged tours continues to be a growth driver, and Ctrip saw 62% higher revenue from this category in the second quarter.

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Investopedia: How Far Will Baidu Follow Google's Map

Often called the "Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) of China", Baidu (Nasdaq:BIDU) has indeed rewarded investors with exceptional growth for some time. While the Chinese internet market is far from mature, the question remains whether Baidu will look to become such a wide-ranging technology company. It is an interesting dilemma - stick and stay in a market that can still pay, or divert resources toward becoming a more well-rounded company.

Growth, Growth and More Growth  
Baidu reported that second quarter revenue jumped 78%, beating estimates by about 5%. The number of paying clients rose 17% from last year (and 9% from the first quarter), while the revenue per client spiked up 52% (and 29% sequentially).

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China Mobile's Search For Growth

You can never really tell what a company's management team will come up with when thinking about how to fuel the next leg of growth. While I can understand why China Mobile (NYSE: CHL), China's largest mobile phone company, might want to diversify and deploy some of its substantial cash holdings, I was initially a little surprised by the latest idea. 

According to a very brief announcement from Xinhua News Agency, China Mobile and Xinhua are going to collaborate to launch a new search engine company in China. So, a company that has enjoyed a sizable market share virtually from the first day of operation is volunteering to challenge Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) on their home turf. 


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AgBank Of China IPO Not As Easy As ABC

Reading about all of the angst and concern about the IPO of the Agricultural Bank of China, I am reminded that waiting for the hammer to fall can be worse than the blow itself. A lot of market-watchers have made this event into an be-all/end-all referendum on the state of China's market. The truth, though, is that the long-term impacts are all but certain to be far less earth-shaking. 

A Big Deal, But ...There is no doubt that the IPO of AgBank is a major event. This is the last major bank in China to go public, it is a very significant lender in the country (particularly in rural areas), and the performance of the stock is going to tell us all something about the appetite for Chinese shares. It is also true that you do not see a $23 billion IPO very often. (For more, see IPO Basics Tutorial.)

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This piece originally had China Mobile named as China Telecom. We'll be getting that fixed soon...

Apple Now King of the Mountain

Yesterday marked an event that probably no sane person would have predicted 13 years ago - Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) surpassed Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) and became the company with the highest market capitalization of any tech company in the world. While the margin of superiority is tight enough that leadership could change hands a few more times, it is probable that Apple is going to enjoy a stretch of time as the most valuable tech company in the world. (For a quick refresher, check out Market Capitalization Defined.)

How Did This Happen?If you go back to 1997 when Steve Jobs rejoined the firm, Apple was nearly bankrupt and WinTel ruled the technology world. Although the PowerBook proved popular, the Macintosh was floundering and the company wasted a great deal of time and money on the Newton platform and a failed alliance with IBM (NYSE:IBM) and Motorola. Enter, or rather re-enter, Steve Jobs. (To read more about Steve Jobs' influence, see What Would Steve Jobs Do? and Hype It Like Steve Jobs.)

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