Baidu's Q4 net profit falls short of analysts' estimates

Baidu Inc posted profit that missed analysts' estimates as the owner of China's largest search engine boosted spending to attract users to mobile applications.

Net income increased to 3.23 billion yuan ($517 million) in the fourth quarter, the Beijing-based company said in a statement. That compares with the 3.52 billion-yuan average of nine analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The revenue of 14.1 billion yuan was in line with analyst estimates.

Baidu's costs are climbing as billionaire founder Robin Li adds services that help shoppers find retail stores and retrieve product information on their smartphones and tablet computers.