- Revenue rose 6% year-on-year to 34.45 billion yuan ($4.72 billion) in the quarter ended Sept. 30. This was slightly above analysts’ expectations.
- This comes after revenue increased 15% year-over-year in the previous quarter, with revenue from online and non-online marketing growing at double-digit rates.
- “Baidu reported solid financial results for the third quarter, demonstrating its resilience in a difficult economic climate,” said Robin Li, Baidu CEO and co-founder of Baidu, in a press release.
Men interact with a Baidu AI robot near the company’s logo at its headquarters in Beijing, China, April 23, 2021.
kickedLo| Portal
BEIJING – Chinese technology giant Baidu on Tuesday reported third-quarter revenue that beat expectations, although growth was slower than the previous three months.
The company’s U.S.-listed shares rose about 2% in premarket trading as of 5 a.m. ET. The stock is down nearly 3% year to date.
Revenue rose 6% year-on-year to 34.45 billion yuan ($4.72 billion) in the quarter ended Sept. 30. That was slightly above analyst expectations of 34.33 billion yuan, according to Refinitiv.
The search engine provider’s online marketing revenue increased 5% year over year, while non-online marketing revenue increased 6% over the same period.
This comes after revenue increased 15% year-over-year in the previous quarter, with revenue from online and non-online marketing growing at double-digit rates.
“Baidu reported solid financial results for the third quarter, demonstrating its resilience in a difficult economic climate,” said Robin Li, Baidu CEO and co-founder of Baidu, in a press release.
Adjusted profit per American depositary share was 20.40 yuan in the third quarter, down from 22.55 yuan in the previous three months, but up from 16.87 yuan in the same period last year.
Baidu reported net profit of 6.68 billion yuan for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 5.21 billion yuan in the previous quarter.
The company said higher marketing spending contributed to an 11% year-on-year rise in selling, general and administrative expenses, which amounted to 5.8 billion yuan.
Research and development costs rose 6% year over year to $6.1 billion, partly due to increased server fees to support Ernie Bot research, the company said. That’s up from 1% year-over-year growth in the second quarter.
Ernie Bot is Baidu’s version of the artificial intelligence-based chatbot ChatGPT. Baidu only started charging for the Ernie bot in November.
“Baidu Core delivered stable margins in the quarter,” Baidu CFO Rong Luo said in a press release. “Our ongoing investments in AI have supported technology and product innovation. Going forward, we will continue to prioritize investments in AI, particularly generative AI and baseline models, while maintaining a relentless focus on efficiency and strategic resource allocation.”
The company said its Apollo Go robotaxi business made 821,000 rides in the third quarter, up from 714,000 rides in the second three months of the year.
In September, Beijing’s suburban Yizhuang district officially allowed local robotaxi operators to charge fares for fully autonomous, driverless taxis.
Baidu also announced that Sandy Xu, former CFO of JD.com, will join the company as an independent chairman starting January 1, 2024.