Baidu’s (NASDAQ:BIDU) shares rose more than 2% in premarket trading on Tuesday after the Chinese tech giant delivered third-quarter results that exceeded Wall Street expectations on both profit and revenue, thanks to continued momentum in its fast-growing AI cloud operations.
The company reported earnings per share of RMB11.12, comfortably topping the RMB8.37 analyst estimate. Total revenue came in at RMB31.17 billion — down 7% from a year earlier but still ahead of the RMB30.89 billion consensus.
Baidu Core revenue slipped 7% to RMB24.7 billion ($3.46 billion). Online marketing remained under pressure, falling 18% to RMB15.3 billion ($2.16 billion), while non-online marketing revenue climbed 21% to RMB9.3 billion ($1.31 billion), driven largely by continued strength in AI Cloud.
AI Cloud Infra maintained its rapid expansion, generating RMB4.2 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 33% year over year. Baidu’s subscription-driven AI accelerator products were particularly strong, soaring 128% from the prior year.
Streaming subsidiary iQIYI produced RMB6.7 billion ($939 million), marking an 8% decline from last year.
“In the third quarter, we demonstrated AI’s transformative value across our portfolio. AI Cloud maintained solid growth momentum, driven by broadening enterprise adoption of our AI products and solutions,” said Robin Li, Co-founder and CEO of Baidu.
Adjusted EBITDA dropped 49% to RMB4.43 billion, while margins compressed to 14% from 26% a year earlier.