Communication Author：Huicong Yi Editor：Luke Sheehan Aug 15, 2020 08:30 AM (GMT+8)

However, "with COVID-19 becoming more manageable in China, Baidu’s business is steadily rebounding,” Robin Li, chief executive, said.

Image credit: Myriam Jessier/Unsplash

On August 14, Baidu released the unaudited second quarter financial report as of June 30, 2020. The financial report shows that in the second quarter of 2020, Baidu's revenue reached CNY 26.03 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 1%. Baidu's net profit in Q2 was CNY 3.579 billion, a year-on-year increase of 48%. Both revenue and profit indicators exceeded market average expectations.

Baidu's core business achieved revenue of CNY 18.93 billion, an increase of 24% from the previous quarter; online marketing revenue was CNY 17.7 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 8%. It's worth noting that Baidu's other income hit CNY 8.3 billion, a year-on-year increase of 18%. Baidu explained that this is due to the strong growth in the number of iQiyi members and Baidu's cloud computing and intelligent transportation solutions business.

As of June 30, 2020, Baidu's free cash flow was CNY 7.3 billion.

Baidu expects its revenue in the third quarter of 2020 to be between CNY 26.3 billion and CNY 28.7 billion, which is a year-on-year increase of -6% to 2% (assuming Baidu's core revenue will grow -7% to 3% year-on-year). 

Baidu's Chairman and CEO Robin Li said: "Driven by AI technology, the three pillars of the mobile ecosystem and the marketing cloud service platform are making rapid progress, which has further turned Baidu App into a super App. In addition, AI business revenue achieved double-digit year-on-year growth in Q2 and is expected to become an important driver of revenue growth in the next few years."