Investors have found Baidu's story riveting.

　　投资者发现，百度的故事引人入胜。

　　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.

　　这么说有充分的理由。百度是中国这个全球增长最快的大型经济体中占主导地位的搜索引擎。该公司投身于电子商务领域，据摩根士丹利说，中国电子商务市场在2010年达到680亿美元的规模，增幅为73%，百度的市场机会正逐渐显现。

　　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%.

　　百度自己的业绩也很不错。公司2010年的收入较上年增长78%。将于下周公布的2011年第一季度业绩看来也会同样不错。公司管理层给出的业绩预期是，百度这一季度的收入将较上年同期增长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年的收入较上年增长78%，将于下周公布的2011年第一季度业绩看来也会同样不错。上图为去年9月在北京举办的百度技术创新大会。与中国电子商务市场上的同行相比，百度同样毫不逊色。成熟的技术，内地搜索市场75%的份额，多年真实且还在不断上升的利润令人印象深刻。与股价更贵的对手比如视频共享平台优酷相比，上述优势就更加明显了。优酷所处领域的竞争更加激烈，它还没有实现盈利。的确，有关百度侵犯版权的负面言论持续不断，但这并没有削弱公司的业务增长或投资者的胃口。

　　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，中国电子商务的故事已经众所周知，百度将不得不寻找新的途径来打动投资者。其中一些已经在计划中，但就像谷歌的投资者都知道的，想要增加搜索引擎的优势并不容易。

　　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.

　　百度旗下新的网络视频播放平台奇艺已经产生了巨大的流量，但至今还没有盈利。百度也正在测试一个网络浏览器，将和微软与谷歌争夺市场份额。只是由于竞争激烈，成功还远远没有保证。

　　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，百度的股价并不便宜。今年以来该公司股价累计上涨超过50%。由于预计利润还将增加，当前60倍的市盈率还算合理，但也意味着上涨空间有限。与此同时，2010的利润由于谷歌撤出中国市场而显得较为好看。谷歌的撤出也令百度扩大了市场份额。由于2009年的业绩相对较弱，在做比较时百度也占了便宜。

　　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.

　　宏观经济的不利因素也正在显现，虽然相对其它中国互联网股票来说，百度依靠广告驱动的业务模式使其具有更大的抗跌性。经济增长放缓和通胀率提高也降低了中国互联网故事的魅力。因此，尽管百度还是令人称赞，但其发展面临的障碍也越来越多。