Baidu Stocks Plunge Over 4% Despite Q1 Earnings Beat, AI Cloud Revenue Surge...

TMTPOST -- The American depositary receipts (ADRs) of Baidu, Inc. plunged 4.3% to $85.48 on Wednesday, wiping out gains over the past month. Shares of Chinese search engine behemoth were hampered as financial results for the beginning quarter of the year failed to impress investors wary of growth of online advertising, its core business, and sustainability of the artificial intelligence (AI) drive amid headwinds including economic slowdown, intense competition and the trade war.

Credit：China Daily

Baidu’s top and bottom line for the first quarter of 2025 beat Wall Street expectation. Revenue gained 3% year-over-year (YoY) to RMB32.45 billion ($4.47 billion), whereas analysts polled by FactSet expected sales to be RMB31 billion. Revenue entering the year reversed the YoY decline for three quarters in a row. The July-to September period saw a decrease of 3%, the biggest yearly drop in more than two years, and the company delivered a 2% YoY fall for the following quarter.

On non-GAAP basis, adjusted earnings per American depositary share (ADS) for the quarter ended March 31 dropped 7% YoY to RMB18.54 following a 12% YoY decrease for the previous quarter, better than analysts estimated RMB14.38 per share. Net income soared 42% YoY to RMB7.72 billion, ahead of expected RMB3.745 billion. Adjusted EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, shed 13% YoY to RMB7.21 billion, compared with a 23% YoY decrease three months ago.

Baidu management highlighted accelerating momentum of AI-powered cloud business. Revenue from AI Cloud surged 42% YoY following a 26% YoY rise for the preceding quarter. "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," said Junjie He, Interim CFO of Baidu. "Looking ahead, we are strongly committed to investing in AI to translate our technological strengths into sustainable long-term growth."

Baidu Core, which marks up around 78.5% of overall revenue for the March quarter, brought RMB25.5 billion, representing a 7% YoY increase after a slightly 1% increase three months earlier. Baidu CEO Robin Li attributed growth of Baidu Core to the momentum of AI Cloud. “The strong performance of our AI Cloud business underscores the growing market recognition of our distinctive strength in providing full-stack AI products and solutions with a highly competitive price-performance advantage,” said Li.

However, revenue from online marketing, a major part of Baidu Core, dipped 6% YoY to RMB16 billion for the first quarter, versus a 7% YoY decrease for the December quarter. Non-online marketing revenue popped 40% YoY to RMB9.4 billion, mainly driven by AI Cloud business. That division accelerated from a 18% YoY gain from October to December.

"While core advertising remains pressured due to macroeconomic challenges and increasing competition from entertainment and commerce platforms, we see easier year-on-year comparisons and more favorable policies supporting revenue," CFRA analyst Angelo Zino wrote in a note following Baidu's report Wednesday. "We expect Baidu's AI initiatives, particularly in Cloud and autonomous driving, to be key to long-term growth amid near-term advertising weakness."

Apollo Go, Baidu's autonomous ride-hailing service, maintained double-digit growth for the first quarter. It provided over 1.4 million rides, up 75% YoY, compared with a 36% increase for the prior quarter. As of May 2025, the cumulative rides provided to the public by Apollo Go surpassed 11 million. CEO Li said the company achieved a pivotal milestone in its robotaxi business, as Apollo Go expanded internationally by entering Dubai and Abu Dhabi, reinforcing its commitment to bringing safe, comfortable, and affordable autonomous ride-hailing services to global markets.