Bidu. I read not so long ago that mobile was a problem for Bidu. Not so, it would seem.
WSJ
Baidu's Revenue, Profit Increase on Mobile Strength Chinese Search Engine's Mobile Revenue Reaches 30% of Overall Revenue
By
Josh Beckerman
Updated July 24, 2014 5:44 p.m. ET
Baidu Inc. said its second-quarter profit rose 34%, as the Chinese search engine pointed to its momentum in mobile.
This marked the first period in which mobile revenue reached 30% of overall revenue, Baidu said.
Baidu also issued third-quarter revenue guidance above Wall Street estimates.
American depositary shares of Baidu rose 5.7% to $215.85 in recent after-hours trading.
Baidu posted a second-quarter profit of 3.55 billion yuan ($571.7 million), or 10.09 yuan ($1.63) an ADS, compared with a profit of 2.64 billion Chinese yuan, or 7.52 an ADS, a year earlier.
Excluding share-based compensation expenses, earnings were 10.72 yuan per ADS, compared with analysts' expectations for 8.19 yuan.
Revenue rose 58.5% to 11.99 billion Chinese yuan, compared with its April projection of 11.82 billion yuan to 12.11 billion yuan.
Baidu, which makes the bulk of its top line from search advertising, has been has been spending heavily to migrate its desktop search advertising prowess to mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. The company has also invested in other ways—such as gaming—to contend in the rapidly growing mobile market in China.
For the third quarter, Baidu expects revenue of 13.42 billion to 13.78 billion yuan, compared with the 13.27 billion expected by Wall Street analysts.
Baidu said it had about 488,000 active online-marketing customers in the quarter, up 4.3% from the 2013 quarter.
The company said traffic acquisition cost was equal to about 12.7% of total revenue, up from 11.6% a year earlier.
Baidu said in May it would invest $300 million in a new research-and-development center in California that would have almost 200 employees and be led by Andrew Ng, a former head of Stanford University's artificial-intelligence lab who also helped Google Inc. set up its artificial-intelligence efforts.
A June report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, an independent U.S. agency directed by Congress, expressed concern about the legal structures of Chinese Internet companies including Baidu and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
Baidu raised $1 billion in a June dollar-denominated bond offering. The company is expected to invest in product promotions and development amid intense competition. Analysts also expect Baidu could expand using acquisitions.
Earlier this week, Morgan Stanley upgraded Baidu to overweight from equalweight. |
