HONG KONG, May 18, 2026, 19:00 (HKT)
- Baidu’s U.S.-listed shares gained over 3% premarket as first-quarter revenue came in ahead of forecasts.
- AI cloud and related businesses rose 49%. Online marketing revenue dropped 22%.
- Hong Kong stocks finished down before any U.S. response, putting the focus on Tuesday’s trading session.
Baidu shares gained pre-market in New York on Monday as the Chinese search and AI group topped quarterly revenue estimates. A jump in AI cloud sales made up for continued softness in advertising, according to the company.
Baidu shares finished at HK$134.70 in Hong Kong, off 0.81%, as per Google Finance. Investors have been looking for a sign that the company’s push into artificial intelligence could become more than a drain on resources.
Baidu posted first-quarter revenue of 32.1 billion yuan, topping the 31.35 billion yuan average forecast from LSEG. Net income attributable to Baidu dropped to 3.45 billion yuan, down from 7.72 billion yuan a year ago. Higher costs and foreign-exchange losses hit profits.
Baidu’s core AI segment—cloud, AI apps, robotaxis, and AI-driven marketing—brought in strong numbers this quarter. Revenue from that business jumped 49% to over 13.6 billion yuan, pushing it above half of Baidu’s total general business revenue for the first time.
Baidu CEO Robin Li called AI “the core driver of Baidu,” with more enterprise clients for AI cloud and Apollo Go’s robotaxi business still growing. CFO Haijian He said operating cash flow stayed in the black at 2.7 billion yuan, citing “operating efficiency and overall business health.” Baidu Inc
Baidu’s ad business stayed weak, with online marketing services revenue down 22% on the year to 12.6 billion yuan. Advertisers aren’t coming back fast enough to give search growth again. In contrast, revenue in the “others” segment—mostly AI cloud—jumped 42% to 13.4 billion yuan. Baidu Inc
Adjusted profit came in at 12.06 yuan per American Depositary Share, topping forecasts for 11.57 yuan. Non-GAAP profit excludes certain items. An American Depositary Share trades in the U.S. and stands for shares of a non-U.S. firm.
Baidu isn’t the only one chasing AI-driven cloud sales. Alibaba, the top cloud player in China, said last week its cloud business rose as customers picked up more capacity for AI tasks. That puts Baidu up against a stronger competitor and a higher bar.
Risks are clear. AI cloud costs a lot to operate. Baidu said cost of revenue rose 7% from the last quarter, mostly on AI cloud spending. If ad revenue keeps dropping or if AI demand cools off before margins get better, the stock might lose its premarket gains fast.
Baidu said Apollo Go handled 3.2 million fully driverless rides for the quarter, taking total public rides past 22 million as of April. The company pitches this as another AI-driven growth story, but robotaxis are still tightly regulated and expensive to run, and size hasn’t turned into profit yet.
Right now, investors are buying the revenue beat and the growth in AI business. The next thing to watch is Tuesday’s trading session in Hong Kong: will it track the U.S. premarket gains, or pay more attention to the weaker profit and marketing revenue down 22%?
