Staff Reporters
Nov 7, 2019

Baidu shows resilience as revenue grows

The Chinese internet search giant has been under pressure from competitors like Meituan and Bytedance.

Baidu shows resilience as revenue grows

Chinese internet search giant Baidu saw its shares gain 5% in the US after posting better than expected third quarter earnings, thanks to strong membership growth from its iQiyi video-streaming service.

Baidu earned RMB 28.1 billion (US$3.93 billion) in total revenue, essentially flat from last year but up 7% from last quarter. While online marketing revenues dropped 9% on year to RMB20.4 billion ($2.86 billion), its other revenues gained 34% year on year to RMB 7.6 billion ($1.07 billion), relying on solid growth in iQiyi membership, cloud services and smart devices.

iQiyi subscribers rose 31% year over year to 105.8 million, Baidu stated of the video-streaming service, "further strengthening iQIYI's foundation to produce entertainment-based blockbuster originals."

Investors and analysts have worried that Baidu may be losing internet ad revenue to new faster-growing Chinese internet companies like user-generated video player Bytedance, parent company of Douyin (TikTok), food delivery service Meituan, content and gaming firm NetEase and e-commerce platform Pinduoduo. 

Going forward, Baidu expects revenues to be between RMB 27.1 billion ($3.78 billion) and RMB 28.7 billion ($4.02 billion) next quarter, which is in line with expectations.

Source:
Campaign Asia

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