Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) shares trade about 2% higher in pre-market Tuesday after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings.
Baidu posted adjusted profit per American depositary receipt of CNY 16.10 (CNY 1 = $0.1436), topping the CNY 12.20 expected. Revenue came in at CNY 31.14 billion while analysts were looking for CNY 29.92B.
"In the first quarter of 2023, Baidu Core delivered a solid performance, with year-on-year revenue growth accelerating from previous quarters, supporting operating margin improvement through operating leverage," said Robin Li, co-founder and CEO of Baidu.
Baidu reported 657 monthly active users (MAUs). The company’s stock has benefited from the generative AI frenzy with CEO Li describing the recent developments as “transformative.”
“In light of this trend, Baidu has introduced its ERNIE Bot in China, which we plan to steadily incorporate into all our businesses"
CFO Rong Luo added that "generative AI represents a new paradigm shift in the AI, and Baidu is poised to take advantage of this massive market opportunity.”
“Baidu will continue to invest unwaveringly in this area in the coming quarters,” he added.
Baidu shares are up 11.5% year-to-date.