- Revenue rose 6% year-on-year to 34.45 billion yuan ($4.72 billion) in the quarter ended Sept. 30. This was slightly higher than analysts’ expectations.
- This comes after revenue grew 15% last quarter compared to a year earlier, with online and non-online marketing revenue growing by double digits.
- “Baidu delivered solid third-quarter financial results, demonstrating resiliency in a challenging economic environment,” Baidu CEO and co-founder Robin Li said in a release.
Men interact with Baidu AI robot near the company’s logo at the headquarters in Beijing, China on April 23, 2021.
Florence Lo reuters
BEIJING – Chinese tech 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 were up about 2% in pre-market trading at 5:00 a.m. ET. The stock is down about 3% so far this year.
Revenue rose 6% year-on-year to 34.45 billion yuan ($4.72 billion) in the quarter ended Sept. 30. That was slightly higher than analyst expectations of 34.33 billion yuan, according to Refinitiv.
Online marketing revenue at the search engine provider was up 5% from a year ago, while non-online marketing revenue was up 6% over the same period.
This comes after revenue grew 15% last quarter compared to a year earlier, with online and non-online marketing revenue growing by double digits.
“Baidu delivered solid third-quarter financial results, demonstrating resiliency in a challenging economic environment,” Baidu CEO and co-founder Robin Li said in a release.
Adjusted earnings per American depositary share were 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 year-ago period.
Baidu reported net income 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 expenses contributed to an 11% year-on-year increase in selling, general and administrative expenses to 5.8 billion yuan.
The company said research and development expenses increased 6% year-over-year to $6.1 billion, partly due to an increase in server fees to support Ernie Bot research. That’s up from a 1% increase in the second quarter compared to a year earlier.
Ernie Bot is Baidu’s version of the artificial intelligence-powered chatbot ChatGPT. Baidu started charging for Ernie Bot in November.
“Baidu Core maintained stable margins in the quarter,” Baidu CFO Rong Luo said in a release. “Our ongoing investments in AI have underpinned technological and product innovations. Going forward, while we will continue to prioritize investments in AI, particularly in generative AI and foundation models, we will continue to focus on efficiency and strategic resource allocation. Will do this by staying focused.”
The company said its Apollo Go robotaxi business drove 821,000 rides in the third quarter, up from 714,000 rides in the second three months of the year.
In September, the suburban Beijing city district of Yizhuang officially allowed local robotaxi operators to charge fares for fully autonomous taxis, with no drivers.
Baidu also announced that former JD.com CFO Sandy Xu will join the company as an independent director of the board, effective January 1, 2024.
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Source: www.cnbc.com
