Baidu Announces First Quarter 2025 Results

BEIJING, May 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU and HKEX: 9888 (HKD Counter) and 89888 (RMB Counter)) (“Baidu” or the “Company”), a leading AI company with a strong Internet foundation, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025.

“Baidu Core revenue grew 7% year over year in the first quarter, driven by the accelerating momentum of AI Cloud, which surged 42% year over year. The strong performance of our AI Cloud business underscores the growing market recognition of our distinctive strength in providing full-stack AI products and solutions with a highly competitive price-performance advantage. We also achieved a pivotal milestone in our robotaxi business, as Apollo Go expanded internationally by entering Dubai and Abu Dhabi, reinforcing our commitment to bringing safe, comfortable, and affordable autonomous ride-hailing services to global markets,” said Robin Li, Co-founder and CEO of Baidu. “We are confident that our AI-first strategy positions us to remain at the forefront and to capture long-term growth opportunities in the AI era.”

“AI Cloud continued its robust growth in the first quarter, which provides solid support to our overall revenue while we accelerate the AI transformation across our mobile ecosystem,” said Junjie He, Interim CFO of Baidu. “Looking ahead, we are strongly committed to investing in AI to translate our technological strengths into sustainable long-term growth.”

First Quarter 2025 Financial Highlights^[1]

Operational Highlights

Corporate

• Baidu released ERNIE 4.5, its first flagship foundation model with multimodal capabilities, and ERNIE X1, its first reasoning model, in March 2025. Baidu launched enhanced versions, ERNIE 4.5 Turbo and ERNIE X1 Turbo, in April, delivering improved performance at significantly lower pricing.
• Apollo Go received Gold in the Driverless Vehicles category at the 2025 Edison Awards, recognizing it as China’s largest autonomous ride-hailing service.
• Baidu ranked second in Asia Pacific on Fast Company’s 2025 Most Innovative Companies list, following DeepSeek, and was recognized for “deploying the world’s largest autonomous driving experiment.”
• Baidu held China’s largest portfolio of AI-related patents and patent applications across various areas, including foundation models and AI agents, as of December 31, 2024, according to a recent report by CICS-CERT, a research institute under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
• Baidu released its annual ESG Report on April 28, 2025, which details Baidu’s latest ESG policies and sustainability initiatives (https://esg.baidu.com/Uploads/Baidu_2024_ESG_Report.pdf).
• Baidu has returned US$445 million to shareholders since the beginning of Q1 2025, bringing the cumulative repurchase to US$2.1 billion under the 2023 share repurchase program.

AI Cloud

• Baidu upgraded its MaaS platform, Qianfan, with an expanded model library and more comprehensive toolkits, extending support for the training and fine-tuning of multimodal and reasoning models to further facilitate AI-native application development.
• Baidu officially released version 3.0 of its deep learning framework, PaddlePaddle, in April 2025.

Intelligent Driving

• Apollo Go, Baidu’s autonomous ride-hailing service, expanded into Dubai and Abu Dhabi in March 2025. In May, Apollo Go commenced open-road validation testing in Dubai.
• Apollo Go entered into a long-term strategic partnership with CAR Inc., China’s leading auto rental service provider, in May 2025 to launch fully autonomous vehicle rental services.
• Apollo Go obtained permission to conduct open-road testing with designated passengers in Hong Kong in April 2025.
• Apollo Go provided over 1.4 million rides in the first quarter of 2025, up 75% year over year, underscoring the accelerating momentum of its scaled operations. As of May 2025, the cumulative rides provided to the public by Apollo Go surpassed 11 million.

Mobile Ecosystem

• In March 2025, Baidu App’s MAUs reached 724 million, up 7% year over year.
• Managed Page accounted for 47% of Baidu Core’s online marketing revenue in the first quarter of 2025.

First Quarter 2025 Financial Results

Total revenues were RMB32.5 billion ($4.47 billion), increasing 3% year over year.

• Revenue from Baidu Core was RMB25.5 billion ($3.51 billion), increasing 7% year over year; online marketing revenue was RMB16.0 billion ($2.21 billion), decreasing 6% year over year, and non-online marketing revenue was RMB9.4 billion ($1.30 billion), up 40% year over year, mainly driven by AI Cloud business.
• Revenue from iQIYI was RMB7.2 billion ($990 million), decreasing 9% year over year.

Cost of revenues was RMB17.5 billion ($2.41 billion), increasing 14% year over year, primarily due to an increase in costs related to AI Cloud business and traffic acquisition costs.

Selling, general and administrative expenses were RMB5.9 billion ($815 million), increasing 10% year over year, primarily due to an increase in channel spending and promotional marketing expenses, partially offset by a decrease in personnel-related expenses.

Research and development expenses were RMB4.5 billion ($626 million), decreasing 15% year over year, primarily due to a decrease in personnel-related expenses.

Operating income was RMB4.5 billion ($621 million). Baidu Core operating income was RMB4.2 billion ($574 million), and Baidu Core operating margin was 16%. Non-GAAP operating income was RMB5.3 billion ($735 million). Non-GAAP Baidu Core operating income was RMB4.9 billion ($671 million), and non-GAAP Baidu Core operating margin was 19%.

Total other income, net was RMB4.5 billion ($618 million), increasing 260% year over year, mainly due to an increase in fair value gain and pickup of earnings from long-term investments, partially offset by the decrease in net foreign exchange gain arising from exchange rate fluctuation between Renminbi and U.S. dollar.

Income tax expense was RMB1.2 billion ($162 million), compared to RMB883 million for the same period last year.

Net income attributable to Baidu was RMB7.7 billion ($1.06 billion), and diluted earnings per ADS was RMB21.59 ($2.98). Net income attributable to Baidu Core was RMB7.6 billion ($1.05 billion), and net margin for Baidu Core was 30%. Non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu was RMB6.5 billion ($891 million). Non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS was RMB18.54 ($2.55). Non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu Core was RMB6.3 billion ($872 million), and non-GAAP net margin for Baidu Core was 25%.

Adjusted EBITDA was RMB7.2 billion ($993 million) and adjusted EBITDA margin was 22%. Adjusted EBITDA for Baidu Core was RMB6.7 billion ($925 million) and adjusted EBITDA margin for Baidu Core was 26%.

As of March 31, 2025, cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments were RMB142.0 billion ($19.57 billion), and cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments excluding iQIYI were RMB136.7 billion ($18.84 billion). Free cash flow was negative RMB8.9 billion (negative $1.23 billion), and free cash flow excluding iQIYI was negative RMB9.2 billion (negative $1.27 billion), mainly due to an increase of investment in AI business. We define net cash position as total cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, short-term investments, net, long-term time deposits and held-to-maturity investments, and others, less total loans, convertible senior notes, and notes payable. As of March 31, 2025, net cash position for Baidu was RMB159.0 billion.

Conference Call Information

Baidu’s management will hold an earnings conference call 8.00 AM on May 21, 2025, U.S. Eastern Time (8.00 PM on May 21, 2025, Beijing Time).

Please register in advance of the conference call using the link provided below. It will automatically direct you to the registration page of “Baidu Inc. Q1 2025 Earnings Conference Call”. Please follow the steps to enter your registration details, then click “Register”. Upon registering, you will then be provided with the dial-in number, the passcode, and your unique access PIN. This information will also be emailed to you as a calendar invite.

For pre-registration, please click:
https://s1.c-conf.com/diamondpass/10046864-38s6ff.html

In the 10 minutes prior to the call start time, you may use the conference access information (including dial-in number(s), the passcode and unique access PIN) provided in the calendar invite that you have received following your pre-registration.

Additionally, a live and archived webcast of this conference call will be available at https://ir.baidu.com.

About Baidu

Founded in 2000, Baidu’s mission is to make the complicated world simpler through technology. Baidu is a leading AI company with strong Internet foundation, trading on NASDAQ under “BIDU” and HKEX under “9888”. One Baidu ADS represents eight Class A ordinary shares.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “confident” and similar statements. Among other things, Baidu’s and other parties’ strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. Baidu may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in announcements made on the website of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Hong Kong Stock Exchange”), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including but not limited to statements about Baidu’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: Baidu’s growth strategies; its future business development, including development of new products and services; its ability to attract and retain users and customers; competition in the Chinese Internet search and newsfeed market; competition for online marketing customers; changes in the Company’s revenues and certain cost or expense items as a percentage of its revenues; the outcome of ongoing, or any future, litigation or arbitration, including those relating to intellectual property rights; the expected growth of the Chinese-language Internet search and newsfeed market and the number of Internet and broadband users in China; Chinese governmental policies relating to the Internet and Internet search providers, and general economic conditions in China and elsewhere. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and announcements on the website of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Baidu does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of the press release, and Baidu undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement Baidu’s consolidated financial results presented in accordance with GAAP, Baidu uses the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to Baidu, non-GAAP net margin, non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin and free cash flow. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP.

Baidu believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding its performance and liquidity by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of its recurring core business operating results, such as operating performance excluding non-cash charges or non-operating in nature. The Company believes that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing its performance and when planning and forecasting future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management’s internal comparisons to Baidu’s historical performance and liquidity. The Company believes these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors in allowing for greater transparency with respect to supplemental information used by management in its financial and operational decision making. A limitation of using these non-GAAP financial measures is that these non-GAAP measures exclude certain items that have been and will continue to be for the foreseeable future a significant component in the Company’s results of operations. These non-GAAP financial measures presented here may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Other companies may calculate similarly titled measures differently, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures to the Company’s data.

Non-GAAP operating income represents operating income excluding share-based compensation expenses, and amortization and impairment of intangible assets resulting from business combinations.

Non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu represents net income attributable to Baidu excluding share-based compensation expenses, amortization and impairment of intangible assets resulting from business combinations, disposal gain or loss, impairment of long-term investments, and fair value gain or loss of long-term investments and exchangeable bonds, adjusted for related income tax effects. Baidu’s share of equity method investments for these non-GAAP reconciling items, amortization and impairment of intangible assets not on the investees’ books, accretion of their redeemable non-controlling interests, and the gain or loss associated with the issuance of shares by the investees at a price higher or lower than the carrying value per share, adjusted for related income tax effects, are also excluded.

Non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS represents diluted earnings per ADS calculated by dividing non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu, by the weighted average number of ordinary shares expressed in ADS. Adjusted EBITDA represents operating income excluding depreciation, amortization and impairment of intangible assets resulting from business combinations, and share-based compensation expenses.

For more information on non-GAAP financial measures, please see the tables captioned “Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the nearest comparable GAAP measure.”