BIDU Q3 2022 Earnings

Call Details

• Call Title: Baidu, Inc. Q3 2022 Earnings Call
• Date: November 22, 2022 at 12:30 PM UTC
• Management Team:
  • Robin Li (Chief Executive Officer)
  • Rong Luo (Chief Financial Officer)
  • Dou Shen (EVP, Baidu AI Cloud Group)
  • Li Zhenyu (SVP, Baidu Intelligent Driving)
  • Juan Lin (Director of Investor Relations)

Call Summary

Financial Performance

• Total revenue was RMB 32.5 billion, increasing 2% year-over-year in Q3 2022.
• Revenue from Baidu Core was RMB 25.2 billion, increasing 2% year-over-year.
• Baidu Core online marketing revenue was RMB 18.7 billion, down 4% year-over-year.
• Baidu Core non-online marketing revenue was RMB 6.5 billion, up 25% year-over-year, driven by cloud and other AI-powered businesses.
• AI Cloud revenue was RMB 4.5 billion, increasing 24% year-over-year.
• Operating income was RMB 5.3 billion and Baidu Core operating income was RMB 5.0 billion with a Baidu Core operating margin of 20%.
• Non-GAAP total operating income was RMB 7.2 billion and non-GAAP Baidu Core operating income was RMB 6.7 billion with a non-GAAP Baidu Core operating margin of 26%.
• Net loss attributable to Baidu was RMB 146 million, and diluted loss per ADS was RMB 0.87, while adjusted EBITDA was RMB 8.9 billion with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 27%.

AI & Technology Initiatives

• AI Cloud loss narrowed and operating loss margin improved both year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter while revenue grew 24% to RMB 4.5 billion.
• Baidu emphasizes full-stack AI capabilities from chip (Kunlun) to deep learning frameworks to large language models to application software as a competitive advantage.
• Kunlun chips and PaddlePaddle usage were cited as delivering a reported 40% efficiency improvement and 20%-30% cost reduction on certain text and image tasks.
• ACE Smart Transportation was adopted by 63 cities at contract sizes over RMB 10 million per city and reduced delays by 22% during rush hours in a covered Zhuzhou district.
• ApolloGo completed 474,000 rides in the quarter (up 311% year-over-year) and 1.4 million cumulative public rides by quarter end, supporting learning at scale for L4 capabilities.
• Baidu is piloting AI-generated short videos to scale content production and reported that short videos accounted for about 23% of clicks on search result pages in September.