NEW YORK, Feb 26, 2026, 05:41 (EST) — Premarket
- Baidu’s U.S.-listed shares slipped roughly 3% in premarket trading after the company posted a revenue decline for the December quarter.
- Revenue and profit topped forecasts, though persistent ad softness left investors wary.
- Traders are on edge, waiting to hear management’s tone during the earnings call slated for later Thursday.
Baidu shares trading in the U.S. dropped almost 3% before the bell Thursday. The Chinese search giant reported December-quarter revenue down 4%, as AI cloud gains weren’t enough to offset sluggish ad sales. Revenue reached 32.74 billion yuan ($4.7 billion), just ahead of the 32.62 billion yuan analysts had penciled in. Earnings per ADS hit 10.62 yuan, topping the 9.25 yuan LSEG consensus. The ad division remains under pressure, hampered by soft consumer sentiment and China’s drawn-out property slump, which continue to sap ad budgets. (Reuters)
Baidu’s report couldn’t have dropped at a trickier time. Investors are hungry for AI to make a real dent in the numbers, but it’s still the legacy search and feed ad business steering sentiment. Judging by the stock’s reaction, this isn’t shaping up as a simple “AI to the rescue” narrative.
Chinese tech giants have talked up AI’s promise over the last year, but on the ground it’s been about cost controls, price squeezes, and reluctant buyers. For Baidu, it boils down to this: is there enough momentum in cloud and AI apps to balance out weaker ad revenue, and can they do it without crushing margins.
Baidu slipped 0.7% on Wednesday, finishing the session at $132.72. (Businessinsider)
Baidu posted net income attributable to the company at 1.8 billion yuan ($255 million), working out to 3.71 yuan per ADS. Non-GAAP diluted earnings, which exclude certain items the company tracks, landed at 10.62 yuan per ADS. Revenue from Baidu’s “AI-powered” segment climbed to 11.3 billion yuan, making up around 43% of what it now labels as “general business” revenue. AI cloud infrastructure brought in 5.8 billion yuan. Subscription revenue connected to AI accelerator infrastructure soared 143% compared with the same period a year ago. The board signed off on a share buyback of up to $5 billion, running through Dec. 31, 2028, and rolled out its first-ever dividend policy, with an initial payout possibly coming by year-end 2026. CEO Robin Li described AI as the company’s “new core.” (PR Newswire)
Cloud might be expanding, but ads remain the money engine—and the murkiest spot for investors. Earnings beats don’t rewrite that equation by themselves.
Timing is another snag. Profits from AI cloud deals don’t materialize overnight—sometimes it takes quarters. The market won’t wait forever. Buybacks and that dividend plan might smooth things over, but investors need to see that the main business isn’t still bleeding out.
China’s AI field is crowded these days, and consumer interest can disappear just as fast as it pops up. During the Lunar New Year holiday, ByteDance’s Doubao surged past 100 million daily active users, outpacing rivals as Alibaba and Tencent launched heavy coupon and subsidy pushes to boost app downloads, according to a private survey monitored by AICPB.com. Still, AICPB flagged “user retention challenges” for some apps after the post-holiday comedown. (Reuters)
Baidu’s earnings call lands later Thursday. Investors are zeroed in on a few things: clarity on ad demand, a read on AI cloud order flow and pricing, and specifics on how soon buyback and first dividend plans actually become cash in hand.
