Baidu Inc (ADR) (BIDU) Beats Earnings Expectations

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Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) released the earnings results from its fourth quarter, posting results that were better than expected. The company posted earnings of $1.39 per share on $1.57 billion in revenue for the quarter. Analysts had been expecting the Chinese search engine giant to post earnings of $1.37 per share on revenue of $1.53 billion.

Examining Baidu’s results

Total revenues rose 50.3% for the quarter. For the full year, Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU)’s total revenues were $5.277 billion, a 43.2% increase. Operating profits were $452.6 million for the quarter—a 3.8% decline year over year—and $1.849 billion for the full year—a 1.3% increase.

“We’re pleased to have finished a milestone year for Baidu with a solid fourth quarter performance,” said Robin Li, chairman and chief executive officer of Baidu, in a statement. “2013 was marked by our entry into new areas and significant progress in mobile, as we invested aggressively to build out Baidu’s position in search, app distribution, and location-based services. Our efforts to drive mobile adoption among customers gained significant traction throughout the year. In the fourth quarter, mobile accounted for over 20% of total revenues.”

Breaking down Baidu’s results

Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) reported $1.563 billion in online marketing revenue, a 50.3% increase from the same quarter a year ago. Revenue per online marketing customer for the quarter was $3,452, a 34.8% increase. Traffic acquisition costs were $194.3 million, which represented 12.3% of total revenues.

For the full year, total revenues rose 43.2%. Online marketing revenues for the full year were $5.253 billion—a 43% increase year over year. Revenue per online marketing customer was $6,971, a 13.1% increase. Traffic acquisition costs for the full year were $611.9 million, which represents 11.6% of total revenues.

Baidu guides for current quarter

For the first quarter of 2014, Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) expects total revenues to fall between $1.526 billion and $1.573 billion.

“We delivered solid top line growth in 2013, and the increasing revenue contribution from mobile over the last several quarters has been especially encouraging,” commented Jennifer Li, Baidu’s chief financial officer. “Our investments helped to lay a strong foundation for sustainable growth across our business. Looking ahead, we will continue to expand the Baidu platform and invest aggressively in R&D, sales and marketing and infrastructure during this crucial period of market transformation.”

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