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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Baidu Sales Slide Most Since 2022 in Fierce China AI Contest
(Bloomberg) -- Baidu Inc.'s quarterly revenue fell its most in about three years, hurt by an economic downturn that's capping its ability to fight bigger rivals in AI and make inroads in newer areas. The Ernie chatbot creator's sales in the June quarter fell 4% to 32.7 billion yuan ($4.6 billion), weighed down by a slowdown in its core internet search operations. Net income rose 33%, versus projections for a decline, helped by a boost from long-term investments. The company's shares slid as much as 3% in Hong Kong Thursday. Why New York City Has a Fleet of New EVs From a Dead Carmaker Trump Takes Second Swing at Cutting Housing Assistance for Immigrants Chicago Schools Seeks $1 Billion of Short-Term Debt as Cash Gone A London Apartment Tower With Echoes of Victorian Rail and Ancient Rome China's internet search leader is betting big on generative AI to drive future growth, but it faces mounting pressure from open-sourced models like DeepSeek as well as a wave of AI-native apps encroaching on its turf. The company will continue to invest in artificial intelligence even as margins and revenue come under pressure in the near term, Chief Financial Officer Henry He said. That's while its mainstay search business loses ground to social-video platforms like Xiaohongshu and TikTok's Chinese twin Douyin. Online advertising revenue declined 15%. But non-marketing revenue grew a better-than-expected 34%, aided by demand for its cloud unit. 'Since the AI search monetization is still in very early stages and has yet to scale, our revenue and margins are under considerable pressure in the near-term with Q3 expected to be especially challenging,' He said. 'We see potential for margin improvement as our core advertising business recovers and stabilizes.' Baidu's Shares Drop After Revenue Slowdown: Street Wrap Baidu is counting on Ernie to underpin an AI ecosystem and drive demand for its cloud division, whose sales have grown by double-digits in recent quarters. It's also accelerating an overseas push by its Apollo Go robotaxi service, through partnerships with Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. Baidu's driverless rides in the June quarter more than doubled to 2.2 million, with cumulative rides passing 14 million in August, it said. Baidu plans to take its fleet of self-driving robotaxis — common in Beijing, Guangzhou and Wuhan — to Singapore and Malaysia as early as this year, Bloomberg reported. The company is now running trials in Hong Kong. But in China's increasingly crowded AI arena, Baidu faces rivals Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. — both with far more firepower and larger global footprints — as well as nimble upstarts. Baidu's stock price is up around 6% this year, trailing both of the bigger internet leaders. 'We are not yet at the stage for large-scale monetization,' co-founder Robin Li told analysts on a call. 'While our AI transformation is progressing rapidly, it is still in the early stages, with considerable room for optimization before reaching its full potential.' Baidu's Ernie was one of the first chatbots to launch in the world's biggest internet arena, but it's since lost ground to apps from ByteDance Ltd. and Tencent as well as open-sourced models like Alibaba's Qwen. What Bloomberg Intelligence Says Baidu's weak quarterly results provide confirmation that its outlook remains highly challenged, with its AI ventures set to lose money for the next three years, in our opinion. We expect its search-engine profit to stay under sustained pressure due to rising uncertainty in China's corporate sector and competition from contemporary social media platforms. Though the results were better than feared, due to cost-cutting, adjusted operating income still plunged 41% year over year to 4.4 billion yuan. Stronger demand for AI cloud services drove a modest revenue beat, yet the search-related ad revenue of Baidu Core remained very weak, down 15% to 16.2 billion yuan. Gross margin missed forecasts by 120 bps, falling 780 bps annually to 43.9%, as the revenue mix shifted toward lower-margin cloud services. - Robert Lea and Jasmine Lyu, senior analyst Click here for the research. The company has had to abandon its paid subscription model as well as open-source its proprietary Ernie models. That's as Baidu's Netflix-style subsidiary iQiyi Inc. reported an 11% revenue drop. The embattled streaming platform is seeking to raise $300 million for a listing in Hong Kong this year, Bloomberg News has reported. --With assistance from Vlad Savov and Mark Anderson. (Updates with shares, BI quote from the second paragraph.) Foreigners Are Buying US Homes Again While Americans Get Sidelined What Declining Cardboard Box Sales Tell Us About the US Economy Survived Bankruptcy. Next Up: Cultural Relevance? Women's Earnings Never Really Recover After They Have Children Americans Are Getting Priced Out of Homeownership at Record Rates ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Baidu Sales Slide Most Since 2022 in Fierce China AI Contest
(Bloomberg) -- Baidu Inc.'s quarterly revenue fell its most in about three years, hurt by an economic downturn that's capping its ability to fight bigger rivals in AI and make inroads in newer areas. The Ernie chatbot creator's sales in the June quarter fell 4% to 32.7 billion yuan ($4.6 billion), weighed down by a slowdown in its core internet search operations. Net income rose 33%, versus projections for a decline, helped by a boost from long-term investments. The company's shares slid as much as 3% in Hong Kong Thursday. Why New York City Has a Fleet of New EVs From a Dead Carmaker Trump Takes Second Swing at Cutting Housing Assistance for Immigrants Chicago Schools Seeks $1 Billion of Short-Term Debt as Cash Gone A London Apartment Tower With Echoes of Victorian Rail and Ancient Rome China's internet search leader is betting big on generative AI to drive future growth, but it faces mounting pressure from open-sourced models like DeepSeek as well as a wave of AI-native apps encroaching on its turf. The company will continue to invest in artificial intelligence even as margins and revenue come under pressure in the near term, Chief Financial Officer Henry He said. That's while its mainstay search business loses ground to social-video platforms like Xiaohongshu and TikTok's Chinese twin Douyin. Online advertising revenue declined 15%. But non-marketing revenue grew a better-than-expected 34%, aided by demand for its cloud unit. 'Since the AI search monetization is still in very early stages and has yet to scale, our revenue and margins are under considerable pressure in the near-term with Q3 expected to be especially challenging,' He said. 'We see potential for margin improvement as our core advertising business recovers and stabilizes.' Baidu's Shares Drop After Revenue Slowdown: Street Wrap Baidu is counting on Ernie to underpin an AI ecosystem and drive demand for its cloud division, whose sales have grown by double-digits in recent quarters. It's also accelerating an overseas push by its Apollo Go robotaxi service, through partnerships with Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. Baidu's driverless rides in the June quarter more than doubled to 2.2 million, with cumulative rides passing 14 million in August, it said. Baidu plans to take its fleet of self-driving robotaxis — common in Beijing, Guangzhou and Wuhan — to Singapore and Malaysia as early as this year, Bloomberg reported. The company is now running trials in Hong Kong. But in China's increasingly crowded AI arena, Baidu faces rivals Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. — both with far more firepower and larger global footprints — as well as nimble upstarts. Baidu's stock price is up around 6% this year, trailing both of the bigger internet leaders. 'We are not yet at the stage for large-scale monetization,' co-founder Robin Li told analysts on a call. 'While our AI transformation is progressing rapidly, it is still in the early stages, with considerable room for optimization before reaching its full potential.' Baidu's Ernie was one of the first chatbots to launch in the world's biggest internet arena, but it's since lost ground to apps from ByteDance Ltd. and Tencent as well as open-sourced models like Alibaba's Qwen. What Bloomberg Intelligence Says Baidu's weak quarterly results provide confirmation that its outlook remains highly challenged, with its AI ventures set to lose money for the next three years, in our opinion. We expect its search-engine profit to stay under sustained pressure due to rising uncertainty in China's corporate sector and competition from contemporary social media platforms. Though the results were better than feared, due to cost-cutting, adjusted operating income still plunged 41% year over year to 4.4 billion yuan. Stronger demand for AI cloud services drove a modest revenue beat, yet the search-related ad revenue of Baidu Core remained very weak, down 15% to 16.2 billion yuan. Gross margin missed forecasts by 120 bps, falling 780 bps annually to 43.9%, as the revenue mix shifted toward lower-margin cloud services. - Robert Lea and Jasmine Lyu, senior analyst Click here for the research. The company has had to abandon its paid subscription model as well as open-source its proprietary Ernie models. That's as Baidu's Netflix-style subsidiary iQiyi Inc. reported an 11% revenue drop. The embattled streaming platform is seeking to raise $300 million for a listing in Hong Kong this year, Bloomberg News has reported. --With assistance from Vlad Savov and Mark Anderson. (Updates with shares, BI quote from the second paragraph.) Foreigners Are Buying US Homes Again While Americans Get Sidelined What Declining Cardboard Box Sales Tell Us About the US Economy Survived Bankruptcy. Next Up: Cultural Relevance? Women's Earnings Never Really Recover After They Have Children Americans Are Getting Priced Out of Homeownership at Record Rates ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Miami Herald
4 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Guess? Inc. to go private in $1.4B acquisition
Guess? Inc., the Los Angeles-based fashion brand that specializes in denim, is going private in a $1.4-billion deal with Authentic Brands Group. Under the terms of the deal, the company's co-founders Maurice and Paul Marciano, as well as chief executive Carlos Alberini, will own 49% of its intellectual property. Authentic Brands Group will own 51%. Shares for Guess jumped more than 25% in midday trading on Wednesday. Shareholders will receive $16.75 per share in cash as a result of the sale, a 26% premium to the stock's closing price on Tuesday. Current Guess management will continue to run the business and own 100% of the operating company, Guess said in a release. "We look forward to building on the significant progress we have made to strengthen our organization," Alberini said in a statement. "As a private company benefiting from the perspectives of a globally recognized licensing partner, Guess? will have enhanced flexibility to navigate today's complex operating environment." Retailers have been squeezed by inflation, high labor costs and uncertainty stemming from President Trump's tariffs, experts said. Forever 21, another Los Angeles-based fashion company that once earned billions in revenue, filed for its second bankruptcy in six years in March. The chain is shutting down its U.S. stores. Department stores Macy's and Kohl's are also shuttering locations, while other companies are going private or consolidating. The sneakers brand Skechers was taken private in May in a $9.4-billion deal with New York investment firm 3G Capital. Also in May, Dick's Sporting Goods announced it would buy struggling footwear chain Foot Locker for $2.4 billion. The transaction between Guess and Authentic Brands Group is expected to close in the fourth quarter of Guess' 2026 fiscal year. Authentic Brands owns more than 50 global brands, generating approximately $32 billion in annual system-wide retail sales, the Guess release said. The group owns popular names in fashion and lifestyle, including Champion and Eddie Bauer. Guess was founded in 1981 by the Marciano brothers, who moved from France to Los Angeles to start their business. The company offers a range of clothing as well as accessories, including handbags and glasses. In the quarter ended May 3, Guess reported an increase in revenues to $648 million and estimated revenues would continue to increase between 5.5% and 7.4% for the rest of the fiscal year. Shares for the company have risen more than 21% this year. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
