Baidu Announces Third Quarter 2024 Results
PR Newswire
BEIJING, Nov. 21, 2024
BEIJING, Nov. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU and HKEX: 9888 (HKD Counter) and 89888 (RMB Counter)), ("Baidu" or the "Company"), a leading AI company with strong Internet foundation, today announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024.
"Baidu Core's flattish third quarter top line reflected the ongoing weakness in our online marketing business, offset by the growth of our AI Cloud business. Our strong AI capabilities are gaining broader market recognition, as evidenced by increasing adoption of ERNIE. In intelligent driving, Apollo Go continues to lead the global autonomous ride-hailing market, hitting another milestone with our sixth-generation autonomous vehicle now operating on public roads across multiple cities in China," said Robin Li, Co-founder and CEO of Baidu. "Despite the near-term pressures, we remain steadfast in our AI-focused strategy and are confident in our long-term trajectory. As we further scale AI, we are emboldened to find how it can drive innovations and create value for consumers, enterprises and society at large."
"Our relentless focus on cost control helped support our third quarter results. Baidu Core's operating margins remained stable as we managed to further optimize costs and realize more cost efficiencies between business units," said Junjie He, Interim CFO of Baidu. "AI Cloud continued to show healthy and sustainable development in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Apollo Go continued to make operational strides, underpinning our confidence in the validity of the fully autonomous ride hailing business model."
Third Quarter 2024 Financial
Highlights ([) (1])
Baidu, Inc.
-----------------------------
Q3 Q2 Q3
(In millions except per
ADS, unaudited) 2023 2024 2024 YOY QOQ
------ ------ ------------- ------ ------
RMB RMB RMB US$
Total revenues 34,447 33,931 33,557 4,782 (3 %) (1 %)
Operating income 6,274 5,944 5,925 844 (6 %) (0 %)
Operating income
(non-GAAP) ([2) (]) 7,596 7,500 7,014 999 (8 %) (6 %)
Net income to Baidu 6,681 5,488 7,632 1,088 14 % 39 %
Net income to Baidu
(non-GAAP) ([2]) 7,267 7,396 5,886 839 (19 %) (20 %)
Diluted earnings per
ADS 18.22 15.01 21.60 3.08 19 % 44 %
Diluted earnings per
ADS (non-GAAP) ([2)
(]) 20.40 21.02 16.60 2.37 (19 %) (21 %)
Adjusted EBITDA ([2]) 9,505 9,147 8,733 1,244 (8 %) (5 %)
Adjusted EBITDA margin 28 % 27 % 26 % 26 %
Baidu Core
-----------------------------
Q3 Q2 Q3
(In millions,
unaudited) 2023 2024 2024 YOY QOQ
------ ------ ------------- ------ ------
RMB RMB RMB US$
Total revenues 26,572 26,687 26,524 3,780 (0 %) (1 %)
Operating income 5,498 5,608 5,694 811 4 % 2 %
Operating income
(non-GAAP) ([2]) 6,672 7,005 6,652 948 (0 %) (5 %)
Net income to Baidu
Core 6,436 5,462 7,536 1,074 17 % 38 %
Net income to Baidu
Core (non-GAAP) ([2]) 6,956 7,290 5,676 809 (18 %) (22 %)
Adjusted EBITDA ([2]) 8,513 8,617 8,336 1,188 (2 %) (3 %)
Adjusted EBITDA margin 32 % 32 % 31 % 31 %
Operational Highlights
Corporate
-- In October 2024, Baidu was upgraded from the prior 'BBB' rating to an 'A'
rating by MSCI ESG Research.
-- Baidu returned US$161 million to shareholders since early Q3 2024,
bringing the cumulative repurchase to US$1.4 billion under the 2023 share
repurchase program.
AI Cloud
-- PaddlePaddle and ERNIE developer community grew to 18.1 million in
November 2024.
-- In November 2024, ERNIE handled approximately 1.5 billion API calls daily,
a significant jump from 600 million in August.
-- In the third quarter of 2024, Baidu expanded the ERNIE family with two
enhanced lightweight models, Speed Pro and Lite Pro.
-- Baidu AI Cloud was ranked the No.1 AI cloud provider for the fifth
consecutive year, according to IDC's 2023 report on China's AI public
cloud market, issued in August 2024.
Intelligent Driving
-- Apollo Go, Baidu's autonomous ride-hailing service, provided 988K rides
in the third quarter of 2024, up 20% year over year. As of October 28,
2024, the cumulative rides provided to the public by Apollo Go surpassed
8 million.
-- During the third quarter of 2024, rides provided by Apollo Go's fully
driverless vehicles accounted for over 70% of total rides nationwide. The
proportion of fully driverless rides further increased to 80% in October
2024.
-- Our sixth generation autonomous vehicle, the RT6, is now operating on
public roads in multiple cities in China.
Mobile Ecosystem
-- In September 2024, Baidu App's MAUs reached 704 million, up 6% year over
year.
-- Managed Page accounted for 51% of Baidu Core's online marketing revenue
in the third quarter of 2024.
Third Quarter 2024 Financial Results
Total revenues were RMB33.6 billion ($4.78 billion), decreasing 3% year over year.
-- Revenue from Baidu Core was RMB26.5 billion ($3.78 billion), which was
basically flat from last year; online marketing revenue was RMB18.8
billion ($2.68 billion), decreasing 4% year over year, and non-online
marketing revenue was RMB7.7 billion ($1.10 billion), up 12% year over
year, mainly driven by AI Cloud business.
-- Revenue from iQIYI was RMB7.2 billion ($1.03 billion), decreasing 10%
year over year.
Cost of revenues was RMB16.4 billion ($2.34 billion), increasing 1% year over year, primarily due to an increase in traffic acquisition costs and costs related to AI Cloud business, partially offset by a decrease in personnel-related expenses and cost of goods sold.
Selling, general and administrative expenses were RMB5.9 billion ($836 million), increasing 2% year over year, primarily due to an increase in channel spending and promotional marketing expenses, partially offset by a decrease in personnel-related expenses.
Research and development expenses were RMB5.4 billion ($765 million), decreasing 12% year over year, primarily due to a decrease in personnel-related expenses.
Operating income was RMB5.9 billion ($844 million). Baidu Core operating income was RMB5.7 billion ($811 million), and Baidu Core operating margin was 21%. Non-GAAP operating income was RMB7.0 billion ($999 million). Non-GAAP Baidu Core operating income was RMB6.7 billion ($948 million), and non-GAAP Baidu Core operating margin was 25%.
Total other income, net was RMB2.7 billion ($381 million), increasing 40% year over year, primarily due to an increase in fair value gain from long-term investments and disposal gain, partially offset by an increase in net foreign exchange loss arising from exchange rate fluctuation between Renminbi and U.S. dollar.
Income tax expense was RMB814 million ($116 million), compared to RMB1.3 billion in the same period last year.
Net income attributable to Baidu was RMB7.6 billion ($1.09 billion), and diluted earnings per ADS was RMB21.60 ($3.08). Net income attributable to Baidu Core was RMB7.5 billion ($1.07 billion), and net margin for Baidu Core was 28%. Non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu was RMB5.9 billion ($839 million). Non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS was RMB16.60 ($2.37). Non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu Core was RMB5.7 billion ($809 million), and non-GAAP net margin for Baidu Core was 21%.
Adjusted EBITDA was RMB8.7 billion ($1.24 billion) and adjusted EBITDA margin was 26%. Adjusted EBITDA for Baidu Core was RMB8.3 billion ($1.19 billion) and adjusted EBITDA margin for Baidu Core was 31%.
As of September 30, 2024, cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments were RMB144.5 billion ($20.59 billion), and cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments excluding iQIYI were RMB140.3 billion ($19.99 billion). Free cash flow was RMB2.6 billion ($376 million), and free cash flow excluding iQIYI was RMB2.4 billion ($342 million).
Conference Call Information
Baidu's management will hold an earnings conference call at 7.30 AM on November 21, 2024, U.S. Eastern Time (8.30 PM on November 21, 2024, Beijing Time).
Please register in advance of the conference call using the link provided below. It will automatically direct you to the registration page of "Baidu Inc. Q3 2024 Earnings Conference Call". Please follow the steps to enter your registration details, then click "Register". Upon registering, you will then be provided with the dial-in number, the passcode, and your unique access PIN. This information will also be emailed to you as a calendar invite.
For pre-registration, please click:
https://s1.c-conf.com/diamondpass/10043066-56ncpy.html
In the 10 minutes prior to the call start time, you may use the conference access information (including dial-in number(s), the passcode and unique access PIN) provided in the calendar invite that you have received following your pre-registration.
Additionally, a live and archived webcast of this conference call will be available at https://ir.baidu.com.
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