What’s New: Chinese search engine operator Baidu Inc. posted a 1% drop in second-quarter revenue as advertising sales weakened, according to the company’s unaudited financial report released Thursday.
Revenue for the quarter totaled 26 billion yuan ($3.69 billion), compared with 26.3 billion yuan a year ago. Online marketing revenue decreased 8% year-on-year to 17.7 billion yuan while other revenue rose 18% driven by strong growth of video streaming, cloud and smart transportation solutions, Baidu said.
Net income attributable to the company was 3.6 billion yuan, a 48% growth from a year ago.
More to know: Baidu’s video streaming unit iQiyi reported 7.4 billion yuan of revenue for the second quarter, a 4% rise from the previous year. The net loss narrowed to 1.4 billion yuan from last year’s 2.3 billion yuan.
Subscribers of iQiyi rose 4% to 104.9 million in June, boosting membership revenue by 19%.
"With COVID-19 becoming more manageable in China, Baidu's business is steadily rebounding,” said Robin Li, co-founder and CEO of Baidu. Li said AI businesses, including cloud, smart devices and smart transportation, are becoming an important revenue driver for the company.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com).
