Baidu Q1 Results Climb On AI Cloud Momentum; Says Confident Of Longterm Growth; Stock Gains - Update

(RTTNews) - Baidu.com Inc. (BIDU), an AI and internet company, reported Wednesday higher first-quarter profit, as revenues were benefited by the accelerating momentum of AI Cloud. Looking ahead, Robin Li, Co-founder and CEO of Baidu, said the company is confident that its AI-first strategy positions it to remain at the forefront and to capture long-term growth opportunities in the AI era.

In pre-market activity on the Nasdaq, Baidu shares were gaining around 2.31 percent to trade at $91.40.

Junjie He, Interim CFO of Baidu, added, "AI Cloud continued its robust growth in the first quarter, which provides solid support to our overall revenue while we accelerate the AI transformation across our mobile ecosystem. Looking ahead, we are strongly committed to investing in AI to translate our technological strengths into sustainable long-term growth."

In the first quarter, the company's bottom line came in at RMB7.717 billion or $1.06 billion, 42 percent higher than RMB5.448 billion last year.

Earnings per ADS was RMB21.59 of $2.98, up 45 percent from RMB14.91 a year ago.

Net income to Baidu Core grew 48 percent from last year to RMB7.633 billion or $1.05 billion.

Adjusted earnings were RMB6.469 billion or $891 million, compared to RMB7.011 billion a year ago. Adjusted earnings per ADS were RMB18.54 or $2.55, compared to RMB 19.91 last year.

Adjusted earnings to aatributable to Baidu Core was RMB6.3 billion or $872 million, down 4 percent year-over-year.

Adjusted EBITDA for the group was RMB7.2 billion or $993 million, 13 percent lower than last year. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 22 percent, down from 26 percent a year ago.

The company's revenue for the period grew 3 percent to RMB32.452 billion or $4.47 billion from RMB31.513 billion last year.

Revenue from Baidu Core was RMB25.5 billion or $3.51 billion, an increase of 7 percent year over year, driven by the accelerating momentum of AI Cloud, which surged 42 percent year over year.

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