U.S. Movers: Baidu, Charles Schwab, Fannie Mae, Honda Motor

Scott Peters
18 Feb, 2025
New York City

Baidu Inc. dropped 2.1% to $95.45 after the Chinese search engine operator reported lower sales in the fourth quarter ending in December, despite a 26% growth in cloud revenue.

Revenue declined to RMB 19.34 billion from RMB 20.80 billion, net income increased to RMB 5.19 billion from RMB 2.60 billion, and earnings per diluted share rose to RMB 1.78 from 85 cents a year ago.

The company returned $356 million to shareholders in the quarter, bringing total repurchases to over $1 billion in 2024.

The company’s core business struggled, with online marketing revenue declining 7% from the same quarter last year, despite diversification efforts.

External ERNIE API calls marked a 178% increase, signaling a growing enterprise adoption.

Honda Motor Co. dropped 2.3% to $28.04 after the Japanese car manufacturer reported lower profit for the nine months to December 31.

Revenue increased to ¥16.33 trillion from ¥14.99 trillion, profit dropped to ¥805.26 billion from ¥869.61 billion, and earnings per diluted share fell to ¥169.69 from ¥176.78 a year ago.

The motorcycle business generated sales revenue of ¥2.71 trillion, higher than ¥2.36 trillion for the same period in 2023.

Dividends received were ¥114.69 billion, compared to ¥143.94 billion a year ago.

The company raised its full-year guidance and still expects to pay an annual total dividend of ¥68 per share.

Fannie Mae gained 0.4% to $7.09 after the mortgage loan provider reported a slight increase in full-year 2024 revenue, while net income dropped.

Revenue increased to $29.07 billion from $29.05 billion, and net income declined to $16.98 billion from $17.41 billion a year ago.

The single-family segment reported net income of $14.4 billion, a decrease of $425 million compared to 2023, but single-family acquisition volume advanced 3% for the year.

The multifamily segment reported net income of $2.5 billion, consistent with year 2023, and the company acquired approximately $55 billion in multifamily loans last year, up 4% from 2023.

Fannie Mae expects slower home price growth in 2025, compared to the rate of the household income increase, helping to gradually improve affordability for homebuyers.

Charles Schwab Corp. gained 1.2% to $81.32 after the financial services company reported a significant increase in new assets received during January 2025.

In January, new and existing clients brought in core net new assets worth $30.6 billion, or a 75% increase from a year ago.

Total client assets equaled $10.33 trillion, up 21% from January 2024 and up 2% compared to December 2024.

New brokerage accounts opened during the month totaled 433,000, an increase of 18% versus January 2024.

January daily average trades increased by 7% month-over-month to 7.37 million, driven by sustained market engagement.