Baidu reports mixed Q2 results as AI Cloud growth offsets online marketing weakness

BEIJING - Chinese tech giant Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU ) reported mixed second quarter results on Thursday, with earnings beating expectations but revenue falling slightly short. The company's AI Cloud business continued to show strong growth, helping to offset ongoing weakness in its core online marketing segment.

Baidu reported adjusted earnings per ADS of RMB21.02 ($2.89), surpassing analyst estimates of RMB18.54. Revenue came in at RMB33.93 billion ($4.67 billion), just below the consensus forecast of RMB34.14 billion and essentially flat compared to the same period last year.

The company's AI Cloud business was a bright spot, with non-online marketing revenue growing 10% YoY to RMB7.5 billion ($1.03 billion). However, online marketing revenue declined 2% YoY to RMB19.2 billion ($2.64 billion) as macroeconomic headwinds continued to impact advertising spending.

"AI Cloud continued to accelerate in the second quarter, offsetting the ongoing macro headwinds for online marketing revenue and resulting in modestly positive topline growth for Baidu Core," said Robin Li, Co-founder and CEO of Baidu.

The company highlighted progress in its autonomous driving business Apollo Go, which provided about 899,000 rides in Q2, up 26% YoY. Baidu also launched its latest AI model ERNIE 4.0 Turbo in June.

Looking ahead, CFO Rong Luo said the company expects "AI Cloud growth to maintain a strong momentum" going forward. Baidu's stock was little changed in pre-market trading following the earnings release.

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Source: Investing.com