Baidu, Inc. - BIDU STOCK NEWS

Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) announced it will report its Third Quarter 2024 financial results on November 21, 2024, before U.S. market opens. The company will host an earnings conference call at 7:30 AM U.S. Eastern Time (8:30 PM Beijing Time) on the same day. Interested participants must pre-register for the call, after which they will receive dial-in details, passcode, and a unique access PIN. A live and archived webcast will be available on Baidu's investor relations website, and a conference call replay will be accessible until November 28, 2024.

Baidu, a leading AI company, has announced a management rotation. Mr. Rong Luo will now serve as Executive Vice President in charge of the Baidu Mobile Ecosystem Group (MEG), stepping down from his role as Chief Financial Officer. Concurrently, Mr. Junjie He has been appointed as the Interim Chief Financial Officer, transitioning from his position as Senior Vice President and Head of MEG.

This rotation aims to foster executive leadership development, optimize organizational structure, and support Baidu's long-term growth. Robin Yanhong Li, Baidu's co-founder and CEO, expressed confidence in both executives' abilities to drive the company's strategic initiatives forward.

Mr. Junjie He, who joined Baidu in June 2019, has extensive experience in management, investment, and finance, having previously overseen Baidu's M&A, SIM, SOM, and FP&A departments. He holds a bachelor's degree from the Guanghua School of Management, Peking University.

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) announced its Q2 2024 financial results, showing modest growth despite macro headwinds. Total revenues were RMB33.9 billion ($4.67 billion), flat year-over-year. Baidu Core revenue increased 1% to RMB26.7 billion ($3.67 billion), driven by 10% growth in non-online marketing revenue, mainly from AI Cloud. Net income attributable to Baidu was RMB5.5 billion ($755 million), with diluted earnings per ADS of RMB15.01 ($2.07).

The company highlighted progress in AI initiatives, including the launch of ERNIE 4.0 Turbo and expansion of Apollo Go autonomous ride-hailing service. Baidu App's MAUs reached 703 million in June 2024, up 4% year-over-year. The company maintained a healthy margin while optimizing operations and speeding up AI-native transformation of its products.

Hesai Technology (Nasdaq: HSAI), a global leader in lidar safety technology, has been chosen by Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) as the exclusive long-range lidar supplier for its next-generation robotaxi platform Yichi 06. This deal, estimated at $200-300 million, is based on Baidu's plans to deploy 100,000 robotaxi vehicles in China. The Chinese robotaxi market is projected to reach $162.6 billion in 2025 and $403.6 billion in 2030.

Hesai dominated the global robotaxi lidar market in 2023 with a 74% share of the $124 million market. The company's total lidar shipment volume has exceeded 380,000 units as of Q1 2024. Hesai's success is attributed to its high-performance lidar technology, which is used by nine of the top ten L4 autonomous driving companies globally.

Baidu, Inc. (Nasdaq: BIDU; HKEX: 9888, 89888) has announced it will report its Q2 2024 financial results on August 22, 2024, before the U.S. market opens. The company will hold an earnings conference call at 8:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time (8:00 PM Beijing Time) on the same day. Investors and analysts can pre-register for the call using a provided link, which will supply dial-in details and a unique access PIN. A live and archived webcast of the call will be available on Baidu's investor relations website. Additionally, a replay of the conference call will be accessible until August 29, 2024.

Baidu unveiled its latest AI-driven innovations at the Wanxiang Conference 2024. Key updates include the integration of ERNIE agents into Baidu's mobile products, such as Baidu Search, Baidu Wenku, and the Baidu App. Baidu Wenku now provides over 100 multimodal AI features, used by 140 million users, and has a collection of 1.2 billion documents. The AgentBuilder platform has been adopted by over 160,000 developers, covering more than 100 application scenarios. Furthermore, Baidu Select reported a 227% GMV increase from January to May year-on-year, with user transactions and active merchants rising by 283% and 242%, respectively. Baidu's advancements aim to lower AI entry barriers and enhance productivity for individuals and enterprises.

Baidu announced its unaudited financial results for Q1 2024, with total revenues reaching RMB31.5 billion, up 1% year-over-year (YoY). Baidu Core's revenue was RMB23.8 billion, a 4% YoY increase. The company's non-GAAP operating margin expanded to 23.5%, and net income to Baidu rose 110% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) to RMB5.4 billion. Diluted earnings per ADS were RMB14.91, a 120% QoQ increase. Baidu Core's online marketing revenue remained stable while AI Cloud revenue grew. The company returned $229 million to shareholders and expanded its ERNIE AI model family. Apollo Go, its autonomous ride-hailing service, saw a 25% YoY increase in rides provided. The Baidu App's MAUs increased 3% YoY to 676 million.

Baidu, a leading AI company, will hold its annual general meeting on June 26, 2024, in Beijing, China. No proposals will be submitted for shareholder approval. The record date for shareholders is May 24, 2024. The company has filed its annual report and financial statements with the SEC and HKEx.

Baidu, a leading AI company, has launched the second ERNIE Cup Innovation Challenge to discover the next big AI-native applications. The challenge offers up to RMB 50 million in funds and resources, with support from Baidu Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO Robin Li. Registration is open until May 15, 2024, welcoming entrepreneurial teams worldwide working on generative AI. The top teams can win funds and resources valued at RMB 10 million, RMB 5 million, and RMB 2 million, with a special prize of up to RMB 50 million. The challenge also includes a YOUNG competition for university students, aiming to nurture future AI stars.