Baidu Earnings Beat Expectations. Why Its Stock Is Dropping.

Baidu banal was dropping aft the institution reported earnings.

LIU JIN/AFP via Getty Images

The apt crushed for Baidu stock’s drop? Baidu’s third-quarter gross guidance, which is forecast to travel successful betwixt $4.7 cardinal and $5.2 billion, with a midpoint beneath the statement $5.14 billion.

The banal has suffered, on with galore of China’s tech firms implicit the past fewer months connected concerns astir accrued oversight from China’s authorities and delisting threats by U.S. regulators, with shares down 8% since May.

The hunt motor giant, which is the equivalent of Alphabet -owned Google successful China, has been expanding into the artificial quality abstraction having mislaid marketplace stock successful its hunt motor business. Last twelvemonth it launched an autonomous taxi work successful Beijing and different Chinese cities.

Robin Li, co-founder and CEO of Baidu said successful a statement: “Baidu Core delivered different beardown quarter, powered by the accelerated maturation of our caller AI business. AI enables businesses and section governments to bash much and service much people.

“We are excited astir the opportunities to assistance antithetic industries alteration their concern with AI and enactment our extremity to go c neutral by 2030.”

Second-quarter revenues grew 27% erstwhile compared with the aforesaid play the erstwhile year, which the institution said was boosted by AI unreality increasing 71%.

“Overall 2Q21 results came successful arsenic a relief, with in-line revs and beardown nett beat,” writes Citigroup expert Alicia Yap.

Just not capable of 1 to support the banal from dropping.

Write to rupert.steiner@dowjones.com