Baidu’s Stronger-Than-Expected Outlook Validates AI Push
- Search giant has sought to transform itself into an AI company
- Baidu shares climb in after-hours trading following earnings
Photographer: Nelson Ching/Bloomberg
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Baidu Inc. forecast sales that topped estimates as efforts by China’s internet search leader to diversify into the cloud and artificial intelligence businesses start to pay off.
Revenue for the period ending in March will be 26 billion yuan ($4 billion) to 28.5 billion yuan, compared with the 25.9 billion yuan average estimate of analysts. Sales last quarter rose 4.8%, the fastest pace in 2020, fueled by a 52% increase in its non-advertising businesses like AI cloud.