Baidu reports revenue drop, net profit increase

Chinese tech giant Baidu Inc reported on Tuesday 29.6 billion yuan ($4.43 billion) in total revenue during the second quarter of this year, down 5 percent year-on-year, while its non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) net profit stood at 5.5 billion, an increase of 3 percent year-on-year.

Despite a challenging macro environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Baidu's core business generated 23.2 billion yuan in revenue during the second quarter while its artificial intelligence-powered cloud revenue maintained rapid growth momentum and was up 31 percent year-on-year, company co-founder and CEO Robin Li said.

Apollo Go, Baidu's autonomous ride-hailing service arm, completed 287,000 rides in the second quarter and became the first provider to offer fully driverless ride-hailing services on open roads in Chongqing and Wuhan.

"Baidu's core business delivered a non-GAAP operating margin of 22 percent in the second quarter, up from 17 percent in the first quarter of 2022, as we continued to optimize our costs and enhance operational efficiency," CFO Luo Rong said. "Going forward, we remain committed to quality revenue growth and sustainable business models."

Its research and development expenses reached 6.3 billion yuan in the April-June period, which was basically level compared to last year. R&D expenses from Baidu's core business accounted for more than 20 percent of the total revenue of its core business for seven consecutive quarters.