Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU), the Chinese search engine giant, stock fell 2.36% (As on November 22, 12:02:23 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company reported lower revenue for the second straight quarter as advertising demand continued to be weak amid an economy struggling to regain momentum. However, the company recorded an 14% rise in net income to 7.63 billion yuan ($ 1.09 billion). Baidu Core’s flattish third quarter top line reflected the ongoing weakness in the online marketing business, offset by the growth of the AI Cloud business. The strong AI capabilities are gaining broader market recognition, as evidenced by increasing adoption of ERNIE. In intelligent driving, Apollo Go continues to lead the global autonomous ride-hailing market, hitting another milestone with the sixth-generation autonomous vehicle now operating on public roads across multiple cities in China. AI Cloud continued to show healthy and sustainable development in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Apollo Go continued to make operational strides, underpinning the confidence in the validity of the fully autonomous ride hailing business model.

Moreover, Revenue from Baidu Core was RMB26.5 billion ($3.78 billion), which was basically flat from last year; online marketing revenue was RMB18.8 billion ($2.68 billion), decreasing 4% year over year, and non-online marketing revenue was RMB7.7 billion ($1.10 billion), up 12% year over year, mainly driven by AI Cloud business. Revenue from iQIYI was RMB7.2 billion ($1.03 billion), decreasing 10% year over year. Cost of revenues was RMB16.4 billion ($2.34 billion), increasing 1% year over year, primarily due to an increase in traffic acquisition costs and costs related to AI Cloud business, partially offset by a decrease in personnel-related expenses and cost of goods sold.

BIDU in the third quarter of FY 24 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $3.08, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $2.37. The company had reported the adjusted revenue decline of 3 percent to 33.56 billion yuan in the third quarter of FY 24, missing the analysts’ estimates for revenue of 33.88 billion yuan.  Non-GAAP operating income was RMB7.0 billion ($999 million). Non-GAAP Baidu Core operating income was RMB6.7 billion ($948 million), and non-GAAP Baidu Core operating margin was 25%. Non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu was RMB5.9 billion ($839 million).

Additionally, Baidu returned US$161 million to shareholders since early Q3 2024, bringing the cumulative repurchase to US$1.4 billion under the 2023 share repurchase program.