Baidu tops analysts’ estimates for earnings and revenue in the first quarter

Baidu’s estimate for revenue in the second quarter came in stronger than expected on Monday. China’s search engine giant is expecting fast recovery as the largest economy in Asia eases restriction after a nationwide lockdown to minimize the fast spread of the Coronavirus.

Baidu’s shares listed in the United States posted an 8% increase in after-hours trading on Monday as the company revealed a smaller than anticipated decline in its revenue in the first quarter. Baidu also topped analysts’ estimate for profit in Q1.

At £89.50, Baidu is currently about a little over 20% down year to date in the stock market after recovering from £68.50 per share in March.

Baidu’s daily active users climb 28% in March

Baidu estimates its revenue in the second quarter to print in the range of £2.88 billion to £3.14 billion as compared to the experts’ average forecast of £2.94 billion. In March, the company added, daily active users (DAU) on its app climbed 28% to 222 million.

In the first quarter, the technology company highlighted a 19% decline in its revenue from online marketing services to £1.64 billion. The business includes Baidu’s news feeds, search engine, video apps, and is known to be a primary driver of sales for the company.

In terms of total revenue, Baidu saw a 7% decline in Q1 to £2.59 billion but topped the analysts’ estimate of £2.52 billion. In February, the Chinese multinational company had estimated its revenue to lie in the range of £2.42 billion to £2.64 billion in the first quarter.

Baidu’s iQIYI posts a 24% growth in subscribers

Baidu’s iQIYI video service that competes broadly with Netflix in the international market registered 118.9 million total subscribers in the recent quarter that marks a 24% growth due to COVID-19 that restricted people to their homes and fuelled demand for indoor entertainment.

At £330 million, the company’s net loss widened in the first quarter from £210 million. Baidu also reported £1.02 of adjusted earnings per American depositary share on Monday. According to Refinitiv, analysts had anticipated the company to print a significantly lower 46 pence of adjusted earnings per share in the first quarter.

Baidu’s performance in the stock market remained downbeat in 2019 as well with an annual decline of roughly 20%. At the time of writing, the Chinese technology giant is valued at £31 billion and has a price to earnings ratio of 117.22.