Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU and HKEX: 9888 (HKD Counter) and 89888 (RMB Counter)), (“Baidu” or the “Company”), a leading AI company with strong Internet foundation, today announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2025.
“In the third quarter, we demonstrated AI's transformative value across our portfolio. AI Cloud maintained solid growth momentum, driven by broadening enterprise adoption of our AI products and solutions. Apollo Go significantly accelerated the scaling of its fully driverless operations and kept advancing global expansion, including entry into Switzerland, all while maintaining industry-leading safety standards. In our Mobile Ecosystem, AI-native monetization products such as agents and digital humans delivered rapid revenue growth, showing strong long-term potential,” said Robin Li, Co-founder and CEO of Baidu. “We will continue pioneering AI innovations that create substantial value for users, enterprises, and society, cementing our leadership in the AI era.”
“AI Cloud achieved healthy expansion in the third quarter, cushioning the impact from softness in our online marketing business,”said Haijian He, CFO of Baidu. “Our strategic AI investments are yielding strong returns. Revenue from AI-powered businesses grew over 50% year-over-year to roughly RMB 10 billion in thethird quarter of 2025, laying a solid foundation for sustainable long-term growth.”
Third Quarter 2025 Financial Highlights[1]
Operational Highlights
Corporate
— Baidu unveiled ERNIE 5.0, a native omni-modal foundation model, at Baidu World in November 2025. ERNIE 5.0 delivers strong performance across omni-modal understanding, creative writing, and instruction following.
— Baidu received improved ESG evaluations from MSCI, S&P CSA, and Sustainalytics during the third quarter of 2025, reflecting continued progress in sustainability practices.
— Baidu was named to Fortune's Change the World 2025 list, recognized for Apollo Go's safety record and positive social impact.
AI Cloud
— Qianfan, Baidu's MaaS platform, was upgraded to be agent-centric, enhancing its model services and agent development capabilities to accelerate AI-native application development for enterprises.
— In August 2025, Baidu Wenku and Baidu Drive jointly launched GenFlow, a general-purpose agent platform enabling users to complete productivity tasks through multi-agent collaboration and natural language interactions.
Intelligent Driving
— Apollo Go, Baidu's autonomous ride-hailing service, provided 3.1 million fully driverless operational rides in the third quarter of 2025, with year-over-year growth accelerating to 212% from 148% last quarter. In October 2025, Apollo Go's weekly average fully driverless operational rides exceeded 250,000. As of November 2025, the cumulative rides provided to the public by Apollo Go surpassed 17 million.
— Apollo Go continued to advance its global expansion. In Switzerland, Apollo Go established a strategic partnership with PostBus, the leading public transport operator to launch an on-demand autonomous mobility service. In Abu Dhabi, Apollo Go deepened local partnership and received fully driverless commercial operation permits. In Hong Kong, Apollo Go expanded its open-road testing zone to include Kowloon and Kwun Tong District.
— As of October 2025, Apollo Go's global footprint covered 22 cities. In Chinese mainland, Apollo Go has achieved 100% fully driverless operations in all cities where it operates, including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Chengdu, Chongqing, Haikou, Sanya, etc. To date, Apollo Go fleets have accumulated 240 million autonomous kilometers, including 140 million fully driverless autonomous kilometers, with an outstanding safety record.
Mobile Ecosystem
— Baidu continued to advance the AI transformation of Baidu Search in the third quarter. In October 2025, roughly 70% of mobile search result pages contained AI-generated content.
— In September 2025, Baidu App's MAUs reached 708 million, up 1% year over year.
AI-powered Businesses (A new AI-native view to provide investors greater visibility into Baidu's AI portfolio)
Based on investor feedback, Baidu is introducing a new AI-native view this quarter that cuts across traditional business groups to better reflect valuation drivers within Baidu's current product portfolio. This view organizes Baidu's business according to the nature of its products and services, revealing a rich array of AI-powered assets company-wide. Going forward, Baidu will provide business updates through this AI-native view on an ongoing basis, while continuing to disclose results under the existing reporting methods.
In the third quarter of 2025, Baidu is disclosing three categories that demonstrated significant revenue contribution:
— AI Cloud Infra – AI infrastructure and platform services within AI Cloud serving enterprises and the public sector. In the third quarter of 2025, revenue from AI Cloud Infra reached RMB 4.2 billion, up 33% year over year, with subscription-based revenue from AI accelerator infrastructure growing 128% year over year.
— AI Applications – AI-native or AI-powered product offerings addressing specific use cases for individuals and enterprises, including our flagship software products such as Baidu Wenku, Baidu Drive, and Digital Employee. Most of Baidu's AI applications are based on sticky subscription models, delivering high-quality revenue. In the third quarter of 2025, revenue from AI Applications reached RMB 2.6 billion, increasing 6% year over year.
— AI-native Marketing Services – AI-native online marketing products and services, including agents and digital humans. AI-native Marketing Services represent a second growth curve beyond Baidu's legacy business, gaining strong traction with customers seeking performance-driven AI-native solutions and willing to pay a premium for cutting-edge AI technologies that enhance productivity and marketing returns. In the third quarter of 2025, revenue from AI-native marketing services reached RMB 2.8 billion, increasing 262% year over year.
Third Quarter 2025 Financial Results
Total revenueswere RMB31.2 billion ($4.38 billion), decreasing 7% year over year.
— Revenue from Baidu Core was RMB24.7 billion ($3.46 billion), decreasing 7% year over year; online marketing revenue was RMB15.3 billion ($2.16 billion), decreasing 18% year over year, and non-online marketing revenue was RMB9.3 billion ($1.31 billion), up 21% year over year, primarily driven by the boost of AI Cloud business.
— Revenue from iQIYI was RMB6.7 billion ($939 million), decreasing 8% year over year.
Cost of revenueswas RMB18.3 billion ($2.57 billion), increasing 12% year over year, primarily due to an increase in costs related to AI Cloud business and content costs.
Selling, general and administrative expenses were RMB6.6 billion ($924million), increasing 12% year over year, primarily due to an increase in expected credit losses and channel spending expenses.
Research and development expenses were RMB5.2 billion ($728 million), decreasing 3% year over year.
Impairment of long-lived assets was RMB16.2 billion ($2.27 billion), attributable to an impairment loss of Core asset group.
Operating losswas RMB15.1 billion ($2.12 billion). Baidu Core operating loss was RMB15.0 billion ($2.10 billion), and Baidu Core operating loss margin was 61%. Excluding impairment of long-lived assets, operating income was RMB1.1 billion ($154 million), and Baidu Core operating income was RMB1.2 billion ($171 million). Non-GAAP operating income was RMB2.2 billion ($310 million). Non-GAAP Baidu Core operating income was RMB2.2 billion ($313 million), and non-GAAP Baidu Core operating margin was 9%.
Total other income, net was RMB1.9 billion ($273 million), compared to RMB2.7 billion in the same period last year.
Income tax benefit was RMB1.8 billion ($257 million), compared to income tax expense of RMB814 million in the same period last year.
Net loss attributable to Baiduwas RMB11.2 billion ($1.58 billion), and diluted loss per ADS was RMB33.88 ($4.76). Net loss attributable to Baidu Core was RMB11.1 billion ($1.56 billion), and net loss margin for Baidu Core was 45%. Excluding the impact of impairment of long-lived assets, net income attributable to Baidu was RMB2.6 billion ($359 million), and net income attributable to Baidu Core was RMB2.7 billion ($375 million). Non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu was RMB3.8 billion ($530 million). Non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS was RMB11.12 ($1.56). Non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu Core was RMB3.8 billion ($539 million), and non-GAAP net margin for Baidu Core was 16%.
Adjusted EBITDAwas RMB4.4 billion ($622 million) and adjusted EBITDA margin was 14%. Adjusted EBITDA for Baidu Core was RMB4.4 billion ($618 million) and adjusted EBITDA margin for Baidu Core was 18%.
We define total cash and investments as cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, short-term investments, net, long-term time deposits and held-to-maturity investments, and adjusted long-term investments. As of September 30, 2025, total cash and investments were RMB296.4 billion ($41.64 billion), and total cash and investments excluding iQIYI were RMB290.4 billion ($40.79 billion).Operating cash flowwas RMB1.3 billion ($176 million), and operating cash flow excluding iQIYI was RMB1.5 billion ($214 million).
Conference Call Information
Baidu's managementwill hold an earnings conference call at 7:30 AM on Nov 18, 2025, U.S. Eastern Time (8:30 PM on Nov 18, 2025, Beijing Time).
Please register in advance of the conference call using the link provided below. It will automatically direct you to the registration page of “Baidu Inc. Q3 2025 Earnings Conference Call”. Please follow the steps to enter your registration details, then click “Register”. Upon registering, you will then be provided with the dial-in number, the passcode, and your unique access PIN. This information will also be emailed to you as a calendar invite.
For pre-registration, please click: https://s1.c-conf.com/diamondpass/10050558-g87y6t.html
In the 10 minutes prior to the call start time, you may use the conference access information (including dial-in number(s), the passcode and unique access PIN) provided in the calendar invite that you have received following your pre-registration.
Additionally, a live and archived webcast of this conference call will be available at https://ir.baidu.com.
About Baidu
Founded in 2000, Baidu's mission is to make the complicated world simpler through technology. Baidu is a leading AI company with strong Internet foundation, trading on NASDAQ under “BIDU” and HKEX under “9888”. One Baidu ADS represents eight Class A ordinary shares.
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “confident” and similar statements. Among other things, Baidu's and other parties' strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. Baidu may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in announcements made on the website of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Hong Kong Stock Exchange”), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including but not limited to statements about Baidu's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: Baidu's growth strategies; its future business development, including development of new products and services; its ability to attract and retain users and customers; competition in the Chinese Internet search and newsfeed market; competition for online marketing customers; changes in the Company's revenues and certain cost or expense items as a percentage of its revenues; the outcome of ongoing, or any future, litigation or arbitration, including those relating to intellectual property rights; the expected growth of the Chinese-language Internet search and newsfeed market and the number of Internet and broadband users in China; Chinese governmental policies relating to the Internet and Internet search providers, and general economic conditions in China and elsewhere. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's annual report on Form 20-F and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and announcements on the website of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Baidu does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of the press release, and Baidu undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
To supplement Baidu's consolidated financial results presented in accordance with GAAP, Baidu uses the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu, non-GAAP net margin, non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted long-term investments and free cash flow. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP.
Baidu believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding its performance and liquidity by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of its recurring core business operating results, such as operating performance excluding non-cash charges or non-operating in nature. The Company believes that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing its performance and when planning and forecasting future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management's internal comparisons to Baidu's historical performance and liquidity. The Company believes these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors in allowing for greater transparency with respect to supplemental information used by management in its financial and operational decision making. A limitation of using these non-GAAP financial measures is that these non-GAAP measures exclude certain items that have been and will continue to be for the foreseeable future a significant component in the Company's results of operations.These non-GAAP financial measures presented here may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Other companies may calculate similarly titled measures differently, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures to the Company's data.
Non-GAAP operating income represents operating income excluding share-based compensation expenses, amortization and impairment of intangible assets resulting from business combinations, and impairment of long-lived assets.
Non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu represents net income attributable to Baidu excluding share-based compensation expenses, amortization and impairment of intangible assets resulting from business combinations, impairment of long-lived assets, disposal gain or loss, impairment of long-term investments, and fair value gain or loss of long-term investments and exchangeable bonds, adjusted for related income tax effects. Baidu's share of equity method investments for these non-GAAP reconciling items, amortization and impairment of intangible assets not on the investees' books, accretion of their redeemable non-controlling interests, and the gain or loss associated with the issuance of shares by the investees at a price higher or lower than the carrying value per share, adjusted for related income tax effects, are also excluded.
Non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS represents diluted earnings per ADS calculated by dividing non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu, by the weighted average number of ordinary shares expressed in ADS. Adjusted EBITDA represents non-GAAP operating income excluding depreciation of fixed assets, and amortization of intangible assets excluding those resulting from business combinations. Adjusted long-term investments represent long-term investments, net, with publicly listed equity method investments adjusted to fair value based on quoted market prices.
For more information on non-GAAP financial measures, please see the tables captioned “Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the nearest comparable GAAP measure.”
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SOURCE Baidu, Inc.
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