(Reuters) – Chinese search engine giant Baidu Inc (BIDU.O) beat analysts’ estimates for quarterly profit and revenue on Wednesday, helped by strong growth in its video streaming platform iQIYI, sending its shares up 5% in extended trading.
Revenue from iQIYI jumped nearly 7% to 7.4 billion yuan ($1.06 billion), as the service crossed 105.8 million subscribers in September this year. The streaming platform competes with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s (BABA.N) Youku.
Baidu has also been battling a slowing Chinese economy against the backdrop of the ongoing U.S.-China trade war, tighter ad regulations and rising competition from rivals like ByteDance’s TikTok.
Revenue from Baidu’s online marketing services business, which includes search, news feeds and a video app and which is a major contributor to overall sales, fell about 9% to 20.43 billion yuan.
The company, whose search engine dominates the market in China, forecast fourth-quarter revenue between 27.1 billion yuan and 28.7 billion yuan, while analysts had expected 27.52 billion yuan, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Net loss attributable to Baidu was 6.37 billion yuan in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with a net income of 12.4 billion yuan a year earlier.
Excluding items, the company earned 12.61 yuan per American depository share, beating estimates of 7.88 yuan per ADS.
Total revenue fell marginally to 28.08 billion yuan from 28.20 billion yuan. Analysts on average had expected 27.49 billion yuan.
Source: Read Full Article