Baidu’s second-quarter results, released in late August, showed that its non-online marketing revenue climbed 34% year-over-year to 10 billion yuan ($1.40 billion) due to its AI initiatives.
Chinese search engine giant Baidu, Inc.’s (BIDU) American Depository Receipts (ADRs) listed on the Nasdaq trended on Stocktwits early Wednesday, tracking the positive move in its Hong Kong-listed shares.
Baidu rallied nearly 16% by mid-session in Hong Kong on Wednesday, with the rally propelling the stock to its highest level since Oct. 12, 2023. According to a CNBC report, Baidu secured an artificial intelligence (AI) deal with the state-owned China Merchants Group, a company focused on the transportation and logistics sector.
“Both sides plan to focus on applications of large language models, AI agents and ‘digital employees,’ vowing to make scalable and sustainable progress in industrial intelligence based on real-life business scenarios,” Baidu reportedly said, according to a translated version provided by CNBC.
A local publication said the buoyancy was also due to a double upgrade snagged by Baidu’s stock. Research firm Arete Research upgraded the stock to ‘Buy’ from ‘Sell’, citing strong fundamentals and growth prospects in cloud computing and AI.
Baidu’s second-quarter results, released in late August, showed that its non-online marketing revenue increased 34% year-over-year to 10 billion yuan ($1.40 billion), driven by its AI initiatives. This helped offset much of the 15% decline in online search revenue.
The search business, known as Baidu Core, accounted for 80% of Baidu’s revenue, with the iQIYI online video platform contributing the remaining 20%. At that time, CFO Haijian said, “We remain committed to our AI investments, focusing on advancing AI transformation across the Mobile Ecosystem, sustaining healthy growth momentum in AI Cloud, and accelerating Apollo Go’s global expansion.”
A report by The Information last week stated that Baidu and Alibaba have begun using internally designed chips to train their AI models. Baidu is using its Kunlun P800 chip for training new versions of its Ernie AI model as it strives to wean away from Nvidia, which is in the eye of the geopolitical storm brewing between China and the U.S.
Separately, Baidu announced this week the completion of an offering of 4.4 billion yuan worth of 1.90% senior notes due 2029. The company said it intends to use the net proceeds for repaying particular existing debt, paying interest, and general corporate purposes.
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward the Baidu stock flipped to ‘bullish’ (70/100) by early Wednesday from ‘bearish’ a day ago. The message volume on the stream remained ‘high.’
Baidu’s U.S.-listed ADRs are up over 46% this year.
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