Earnings: Olympics Pump Baidu Q3 Profits Up 91 Percent
This story was written by Tameka Kee.
Boosted by increased usage during the Beijing Olympics, Chinese search engine Baidu's Q3 profits came in at $51.2 million (347.9 million yuan), or $1.47 per share, up 91 percent from last year's $24.2 million (181.7 million yuan). Revenues increased by 85 percent, to $135.4 million (919.1 million yuan), from $66.3 million (496.5 million yuan) in Q307. The company beat estimates (via WSJ) although just barely for revenue; analysts polled by Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ: TRIN) expected earnings of $1.28 per share on revenue of $135 million. The engine was also able to attract more advertisersand get them to spend morethan in previous quarters. Baidu (NSDQ: BIDU) had 194,000 customers in Q3, up 7 percent from Q2, and up almost 36 percent year-over-year. Average revenue per customer came in at 4,700 yuan ($692), up 6.8 percent from Q2 and up 34 percent year-over-year.
Still, Baidu's stock price fell by as much as 4.4 percent after it posted earnings, after a forecast in the low range of estimates and against a backdrop of uncertainly about China's post-Olympics economy. The engine forecast Q4 profits to be in the 1,025 million yuan ($151 million) to 1,055 million yuan ($155 million) range, up 80 to 85 percent from last year, and up 12 to 15 percent from the previous quarter. Release.
By Tameka Kee