Baidu shows resilience as revenue grows

Chinese internet search giant Baidu saw its shares gain 5% in the US after posting better than expected third quarter earnings, thanks to strong membership growth from its iQiyi video-streaming service.

Baidu earned RMB 28.1 billion (US$3.93 billion) in total revenue, essentially flat from last year but up 7% from last quarter. While online marketing revenues dropped 9% on year to RMB20.4 billion ($2.86 billion), its other revenues gained 34% year on year to RMB 7.6 billion ($1.07 billion), relying on solid growth in iQiyi membership, cloud services and smart devices.

iQiyi subscribers rose 31% year over year to 105.8 million, Baidu stated of the video-streaming service, "further strengthening iQIYI's foundation to produce entertainment-based blockbuster originals."

Investors and analysts have worried that Baidu may be losing internet ad revenue to new faster-growing Chinese internet companies like user-generated video player Bytedance, parent company of Douyin (TikTok), food delivery service Meituan, content and gaming firm NetEase and e-commerce platform Pinduoduo. 

Going forward, Baidu expects revenues to be between RMB 27.1 billion ($3.78 billion) and RMB 28.7 billion ($4.02 billion) next quarter, which is in line with expectations.