Baidu revenue falls short of expectations, but mobile continues to grow
Baidu's revenue failed to meet expectations in the first quarter, but mobile growth brought some success.
The figures
During the three months ended March, the Chinese internet search provider's total revenue was $2.053bn (£1.33bn), which was 34 per cent higher than in 2014 but slightly shy of the $2.08bn analysts expected.
The $1.22 earnings per share were slightly ahead of the $1.07 they expected, however, and these mixed results were reflected in the lack of change to share price in after-hours trading – it only dipped slightly by 0.09 per cent to $219.
Why it's interesting
The company said its growth in revenue was driven mainly by mobile, which represented 50 per cent of the first quarter figure. During the fourth quarter of last year, it was responsible for a slightly smaller 42 per cent.
Since listing on Nasdaq 10 years ago, the company's shares have done very well, rising to 2,500 per cent of their initial value – even greater than Apple's 1,500 per cent increase during the same period.
The company has gone through a more difficult patch since November 2014, however, with share price continuing on a downward trend until April.
What Baidu said
Jennifer Li, chief financial officer of Baidu, said:
We continue to execute on our investment plan to capture the vast growth opportunities ahead and fulfil our vision. We are very pleased with the strong traction we have gained thus far and will continue to set our sights high for greater future progress.
In short
Investors seemed largely unaffected by today's results, neither responding positively to the mobile growth or negatively to the slightly lower-than-expected revenue. It looks as though Baidu will continue on a steady path for the time being.