Baidu.com Inc (BIDU)

[FuninUSA]

Chinese internet search giant Baidu’s shares rise sharply, with its report of strong growth in advertising business

The stock price of China’s Baidu rose sharply after marketing revenue grew 23 percent to 17.2 billion yuan ($3.30 billion), its second-fastest quarterly rate in over two years. Net profit rose 23.4 percent versus forecasts of 19.5 percent.

Baidu, which has had to bounce back from a bruising medical advertising scandal in 2016, said it was now taking extra measures to clean up content on its platforms. Reported in FuninUSA, the company has employed artificial intelligence technology to target click-bait and inappropriate content, and Baidu has removed 20.2 billion malicious web pages in 2017, said Chief Executive Robin Li in an interview.

Since the event of Baidu being cracked down on its advertising practices by regulators 2 years ago, Baidu has sold or withdrawn from a number of businesses to focus on autonomous driving, AI and its news feed product, regaining momentum and investor confidence, reported in FuninUSA.

Baidu's total revenue rose about 24 percent to 20.91 billion yuan in the three months to March 31, its slowest rate in three quarters despite topping analyst estimates. The positive results also reflect lower-than-expected research and development expenses, which have sky-rocketed since Baidu's pivot to AI due to steep costs hiring top talent.