Baidu Surges With Bullish Options as Robotaxi Orders Climb (1)

Baidu’s shares jumped by the most in more than a year and bullish options bets surged to a record on signs of growing popularity for its Apollo Go robotaxi in China.

The stock rose as much as 13% in Hong Kong, following an 8.5% advance in the US on Tuesday. More than 48,000 calls changed hands, six times more than the 20-day average and double the number of bearish puts.

China’s internet search leader is investing ingenerative AI and autonomous driving to diversify its business as the nation’s economic growth slows and impacts advertisements. Traders are betting that robotaxis ...