Chinese search engine giant Baidu posted a slight earnings decline in the June quarter versus a year earlier,Boobwatch 1 (1996) landing at RMB 33.9 billion ($4.67 billion). Its ads revenue was down 2% to RMB 19.2 billion, the first drop since the business rebounded in the first quarter of 2023. “Our advertising business is currently facing pressure caused by a combination of external factors and our proactive efforts to accelerate the AI-driven renovation of search,” Robin Li told investors on the firm’s earnings call. Baidu executives warned in May that the company’s advertising revenue may remain weak in the coming quarters. For the three months that ended in June, Baidu’s cloud revenue was up 14% year-on-year to RMB 5.1 billion, with generative AI contributing 9%, up from 6.9% in the first quarter. Li noted that GenAI-related cloud businesses “should have higher standardized margins” than traditional ones. The company’s net profit during the period was up 5.3% to RMB 5.49 billion. [Baidu]
