Baidu's (HKG:9888) attributable profit plunged about 55% in the first quarter despite a boost in revenue for the Chinese search engine operator's cloud computing services.
Net attributable profit slid to 3.45 billion yuan in the three months through March 31 from 7.72 billion yuan in the year-ago period, according to a Monday after-hours filing with the Hong Kong bourse.
Earnings per share slid to 1.17 yuan from 2.73 yuan a year earlier.
Revenue slipped to 32.1 billion yuan from 32.5 billion yuan a year earlier, with Baidu Core AI-powered Business surging 49% to about 13.6 billion yuan.
Artificial intelligence cloud infrastructure revenue soared 79% year over year to 8.8 billion yuan in the first quarter, while the top line from AI applications stayed flat at 2.5 billion yuan.
"In Q1, our Core AI-powered Business exceeded half of Baidu General Business revenue for the first time, marking a clear signal that AI has become the core driver of Baidu," according to a Monday statement.
The surge in its core AI-powered business helped general business revenue jump 2% year over year, marking a return to positive growth, the company said.
The Apollo Go robotaxi service saw total rides reach 3.2 million, with weekly rides peaking at more than 350,000 in March. Total rides surged 120% year over year, Baidu said.
AI-native advertising revenue increased 36% year over year to 2.3 billion yuan.
Online marketing slid 22% to 12.6 billion yuan in the quarter from 16 billion yuan a year earlier.
Total costs jumped 3.4% year over year to 28.9 billion yuan from 27.9 billion yuan
