Baidu's Fourth-Quarter Net Profit Fell Despite Higher Revenue

By Sherry Qin

Chinese search-engine giant Baidu reported a nearly 6% increase in revenue for the fourth quarter, thanks to higher sales from its online-marketing services and streaming services, but missed estimates.

Revenue came in at CNY34.95 billion ($687.7 million), slightly lower than the estimate of CNY35.065 billion in a FactSet poll.

Net profit for the quarter was CNY2.60 billion, down sharply from CNY4.95 billion a year earlier, the company said Wednesday. That missed the estimate of CNY4.96 billion, according to FactSet.

Revenue from its online-marketing services increased around 6% to CNY20.80 billion as the number of monthly active users for its flagship Baidu app rose 3% to 667 million in December.

Revenue from its iQIYI video-streaming service rose 2% to CNY7.71 billion.

Write to Sherry Qin at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-28-24 0503ET