Baidu Inc (BIDU-SW) shares plummeted 5.43% in intraday trading on Wednesday, following the release of the company's fourth-quarter 2024 earnings results. The stock's decline was primarily driven by concerns over the slowdown in Baidu's core online marketing business.
Although Baidu reported better-than-expected earnings per share of CNY2.41 for the quarter, beating analysts' estimates of CNY2.05, its revenue growth was slightly negative at -2.4% year-over-year. The company's online marketing business, which contributes a major portion of its revenue, experienced a 7% decline from the previous year to CNY17.9 billion ($2.46 billion), excluding its streaming service iQIYI.
Junjie He, interim CFO of Baidu, acknowledged the softness in the online marketing business but highlighted the robust momentum in the company's AI Cloud business, with fourth-quarter revenue growth accelerating to 26% year-over-year, offsetting some of the weakness in the core advertising segment.
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