Chinese internet giant Baidu reported on Tuesday third-quarter revenues of 32.5 billion yuan ($4.6 billion), representing a year-on-year increase of 2 per cent.
Its earnings report showed Baidu posted a net loss of 146 million yuan for the three months through September as it reined in costs and trimmed back far deeper losses from the equivalent quarter last year.
Chinese technology majors have struggled in recent months amid an economic slowdown, Covid-19 curbs, and tighter regulatory scrutiny.
Earnings reports from internet titans, including Alibaba and JD.com, have presented a mixed picture in recent weeks.
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“Baidu Core delivered a solid set of financial and operational results in the third quarter, despite the continued challenges posed by the Covid-19 resurgence,” said CEO Robin Li.
The core business “resumed positive growth, driven by a gradual recovery of our online marketing business and the steady growth of our AI Cloud revenue”, Li said, hailing “significant progress in intelligent driving”.
“Looking ahead, we expect our mobile ecosystem to continue generating strong cash flow and fund our investment in AI Cloud and intelligent driving, which will help … drive long-term business growth,” he said.
Beijing-based Baidu reported a third-quarter loss of 16.6 billion yuan last year, despite revenues rising 63 per cent year-on-year to 31.9 billion yuan at the time.
The company, which operates China’s biggest online search engine, has diversified in recent years into artificial intelligence, cloud computing and autonomous driving technologies as advertising revenue has remained sluggish.
