Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter, but its stock still dipped over 2% in premarket trading Tuesday.
The Chinese internet and AI giant posted earnings per share (EPS) of RMB19.18, surpassing analysts’ expectations of RMB16.42. Revenue reached RMB34.12 billion, also beating the consensus estimate of RMB33.64 billion.
Baidu’s core business generated RMB27.7 billion in revenue, beating the expected RMB26.75 billion. However, its streaming platform iQIYI fell short of expectations, reporting revenue of RMB6.6 billion versus the estimated RMB6.84 billion.
“2024 marked a pivotal year in our ongoing transformation from an internet-centric to an AI-first business. AI Cloud gained momentum, fueled by broad market recognition of our full-stack AI capabilities,” said Robin Li, co-founder, and CEO of Baidu.
“With our strategic foresight increasingly validated, we expect our AI investments to deliver more significant results in 2025,” he added.
The company reported an adjusted operating profit of RMB5.05 billion, outperforming the expected RMB4.89 billion. However, adjusted EBITDA came in at RMB6.95 billion, missing the RMB7.47 billion forecast.
Meanwhile, Baidu’s monthly active users reached 679 million, falling short of the expected 690.82 million.
