Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU) released its earnings numbers for its most recent quarter this afternoon after the bell rang for the day in New York. The company showed investors earnings per share of $1.73 for the three month period, which it refers to as its second quarter of fiscal 2014. Revenue for the period came in at $1.93 billion. On today’s market shares in the company shifted strongly upward in anticipation of this revelation. The stock finished the day trading for $204.27.
In the lead up to the release of these earnings numbers analysts following Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU) were looking for earnings per share of $1.38 from the company by consensus. Revenue for the second quarter was expected to come in at $1.93 billion. The consensus figures were taken from a Businessweek survey of 10 analysts following the Chinese internet company.
Baidu growth strong in Q2
The massive beat in the company’s headline EPS number appears to have been responsible for the bounce in the value of the company’s shares in the after hours market. The company’s stock was trading up by about 6% at time of writing, just after the company revealed its earnings for the second quarter.
“We had a great quarter as we continued to build very strong mobile momentum. As the clear leader in mobile search, mobile map and app distribution, mobile revenue for the first time ever contributed to 30 percent of our total revenue”, said Robin Li, chairman and CEO of Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU).
The company said it was looking to generate revenue of between $2.163 billion and $2.221 billion in the current quarter, but gave away little else about its outlook for the rest of the year. Investors are, however, likely to be expecting the same explosive growth from the company to continue, even as rivals gain power.
Baidu has investment rival on the way
Right now Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU) is just about the only good way for an America investor to bet on growth in the Chinese internet market. Big western firms like Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) avoid the country, and proxy bets like those on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and other smartphone makers aren’t giving the right kind of exposure.
In the coming months, however, Baidu Inc (NYSE:BIDU) is going to be competing for those investment dollars with another of the giants of the Chinese industry. AliBaba is set to go public at some point this year, with guesses suggesting it’ll be sooner rather than later. Once that happens the American view of the Chinese tech market is set to change dramatically, and Baidu Inc (NYSE:BIDU) investors will see that jump clearly.
Since the start of 2014 stock in Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU) has increased in value by more than 14%. Investors like the look of the Chinese internet market, with video ads being having particularly strong reputation as drivers of revenue growth. Baidu will host a conference call at 8 PM EDT in order to discuss these numbers with investors. The company is likely to hear questions about its mobile strategy alongside analysts interested in its guidance for the year ahead.
