Baidu Q1 Profit Drops, AI Revenues Rise; Sees AI Growth Ahead; Stock Rises

(RTTNews) - Shares of Baidu Inc. were gaining around 4 percent in the pre-market activity on Nasdaq after the Chinese AI and internet company Monday reported significantly higher revenues in Core AI-powered Business in its first quarter and projected AI growth ahead, even as net profit and total revenues dropped from last year.

Robin Li, Co-founder and CEO of Baidu, said, "In Q1, our Core AI-powered Business exceeded half of Baidu General Business revenue for the first time, marking a clear signal that AI has become the core driver of Baidu. AI Cloud Infra delivered exceptional momentum, powered by surging enterprise demand and the differentiated full-stack AI capabilities we have built over the years. … We see AI driving even greater value for Baidu in the quarters ahead."

In the first quarter, net income attributable to Baidu was RMB3.45 billion or $499 million, compared to prior year's RMB7.72 billion. Earnings per share were RMB1.10 or $0.16, compared to RMB2.70 a year ago.

Earnings per ADS were RMB8.76 or $1.27, lower than prior year's RMB21.59.

Adjusted net income attributable to Baidu was RMB4.33 billion or $628 million, compared to RMB6.47 billion a year ago. Adjusted earnings per ADS were RMB12.06 or $1.75, compared to RMB18.54 last year.

Adjusted EBITDA was RMB5.95 billion or $863 million, lower than RMB7.21 billion a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 19 percent, compared to 22 percent in the prior year.

Revenue dropped to RMB32.08 billion or $4.65 billion from prior year's RMB32.45 billion.

Total revenue of Baidu General Business grew 2 percent year-over-year to RMB26 billion or $3.77 billion, returning to positive growth.

Revenue from Baidu Core AI-powered Business exceeded RMB 13.6 billion, up 49 percent year-over-year.

Revenue from AI Cloud Infra was RMB 8.8 billion in the first quarter, up 79 percent from last year. Revenue from GPU Cloud increased by 184 percent.

Online Marketing Services revenues fell 22 percent from prior year to RMB12.6 billion.

Revenue from AI Applications was RMB2.5 billion, approximately flat year over year.

In Robotaxi, Apollo Go, Baidu's autonomous ride-hailing service, delivered 3.2 million fully driverless operational rides with weekly rides peaking at over 350,000 in March. Total rides increased over 120 percent year-over-year. As of April 2026, cumulative rides provided to the public by Apollo Go exceeded 22 million.

In pre-market activity on Nasdaq, the shares were gaining around 4.2 percent, trading at $141.00.

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