Baidu announced its unaudited financial results for Q1 2024, reflecting the company’s operational performance and key developments.
Operational Highlights
AI and Cloud Services
CEO Robin Li noted the stability of Baidu Core’s online marketing revenue and growth in AI Cloud revenue driven by the optimization of their AI technology stack. The ERNIE family of models has been expanded with several lightweight versions, enhancing affordability and efficiency for various applications.
Intelligent Driving
Baidu’s Apollo Go, the autonomous ride-hailing service, provided approximately 826,000 rides in Q1 2024, a 25% increase year-over-year. As of April 2024, Apollo Go has provided over 6 million cumulative rides.
Mobile Ecosystem
In March 2024, Baidu App’s monthly active users (MAUs) reached 676 million, a 3% increase year-over-year. Managed Page accounted for 50% of Baidu Core’s online marketing revenue, demonstrating significant user engagement.
AI Developer Community
The PaddlePaddle developer community grew to 13 million by mid-April 2024. Baidu launched and improved tools on its MaaS (Model as a Service) platform, facilitating the development of AI-native applications and customized models for enterprise customers.
Financial Highlights
- Revenue: Total revenues for Q1 2024 were RMB31.5 billion (US$4.37 billion), a 1% increase year-over-year.
- Revenue from Baidu Core was RMB23.8 billion (US$3.30 billion), a 4% increase year-over-year, driven by a 3% rise in online marketing revenue
- 6% increase in non-online marketing revenue, primarily from the AI Cloud business.
- Operating Income: Operating income was RMB5.5 billion (US$760 million), a 10% increase year-over-year.
- Baidu Core operating income was RMB4.5 billion (US$629 million), with a 19% operating margin.
- Non-GAAP operating income was RMB6.7 billion (US$924 million), with Baidu Core contributing RMB5.6 billion (US$774 million).
- Net Income: Net income attributable to Baidu was RMB5.4 billion (US$755 million), a 6% decrease year-over-year.
- Non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu was RMB7.0 billion (US$971 million), reflecting a 22% increase year-over-year.
- Non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS were RMB19.91 (US$2.76), up 24% year-over-year.
- EBITDA: Adjusted EBITDA was RMB8.2 billion (US$1.14 billion), maintaining a 26% margin. Adjusted EBITDA for Baidu Core was RMB7.1 billion (US$986 million), with a 30% margin.
Since the beginning of Q1 2024, Baidu has returned US$229 million to shareholders, bringing the total repurchase to US$898 million under the 2023 share repurchase program.