AI helps boost Baidu's bottom line

Staff reporter and Reuters

Baidu's (9888) full-year net income soared 169 percent yearly to 20 billion yuan from a low base in 2022.

Total revenue grew 9 percent to 134.6 billion yuan (HK$146 billion) over the previous year following higher-than-expected fourth-quarter results, partly boosted by the artificial intelligence-related businesses and growing demand for advertising.

For the three months through December, the company's adjusted net income rose by 44 percent to 7.76 billion yuan, compared with 5.37 billion yuan for the same period a year earlier, beating analysts' forecasts of 6.32 billion yuan, according to LSEG data.

The company reported a revenue of 34.95 billion yuan for the quarter, up by 6 percent yearly, broadly in line with analysts' average estimate of 34.97 billion yuan.

As China's largest internet search engine, Baidu makes the majority of its revenue from advertising.

But as China's economy slows and consumers spend less, Baidu has increasingly invested in AI. In March last year, it launched its ChatGPT-like Ernie Bot in bid to capture from the potential of the technology.

"Throughout 2023, we made significant strides in advancing Ernie and Ernie Bot, reinventing our products and services, and achieving breakthroughs in monetization," co-founder and chief executive Robin Li Yanhong said. But its US-listed shares of the company once slid over 4 percent in trading before the bell.