Economy

Baidu doubles earnings, grabs Google share

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-10-22 08:20

SAN FRANCISCO - China's top search engine operator, Baidu Inc, more than doubled its quarterly net profit as an increase in paid click volume and new customer additions boosted revenue.

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Baidu, which has grabbed market share from Google, dominates over 70 percent of China's search market and is aggressively seeking other revenue streams by diversifying into e-commerce and online video.

It expects revenue for the fourth quarter to come in at $354.2 million to $364.7 million, ahead of the average analyst forecast for $348.5 million.

Third-quarter net income rose to $156.4 million, or 45 cents a share, from $72.2 million, or $2.07 per share, a year ago, before a 10-for-1 stock split. Analysts were expecting earnings of 41 cents per share.

Revenue surged to $337.2 million from $187.3 million a year ago. Analysts, on average, had expected revenue of $333.3 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Shares of Baidu slid 4 percent to $98.60 in after-hours trade following its results. The stock climbed 2.5 percent during Thursday's regular session and has more than doubled since January.