Quick Take: Baidu’s Second-Quarter Net Income Rose 83%

(Beijing) — Chinese search engine Baidu Inc. said Thursday its second quarter net income rose 82.9% to 4.4 billion yuan ($651 million), reviving from a regulatory crackdown on its online ad business last year.

Beijing-based Baidu reported 20.9 billion yuan in revenue in the second quarter, a 14.3% increase from the same period last year. Mobile revenue represented 72% of the company's total revenue, up from 62% a year earlier, the company reported in its unaudited financial statement.

Baidu’s shares in New York climbed 6.7% in after-hours trading.

"We made big strides in the second quarter, as we reported solid financial performance and made meaningful progress in our core business and AI-enabled initiatives," Lu Qi, Baidu's vice chairman and president, said in the statement. "Our Mobile Baidu App and our Feed product showed strong progress, and the solid increase of our online active customer base reaffirmed Baidu's unique and compelling value proposition.”

iQiyi, Baidu's video streaming site, also continued to strengthen Baidu’s lead in the online video business, Lu said.

Robin Li, Baidu's chairman and chief executive officer, said the company will use AI as a fundamental driver to elevate its current core businesses, specifically Mobile Baidu and search.

As of June 30, Baidu had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of 92 billion yuan, according to the statement. Its net operating cash inflow for the second quarter was 6.6 billion yuan.

Baidu forecast it will generate 23.1 billion yuan to 23.75 billion yuan in total revenue in the third quarter, representing an annual increase of 26.7% to 30.1%, the company said.

Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com)