Technology

Baidu Announces Second Quarter 2024 Results

Published

2 years ago

August 22, 2024

BEIJING, Aug. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU and HKEX: 9888 (HKD Counter) and 89888 (RMB Counter)), (“Baidu” or the “Company”), a leading AI company with strong Internet foundation, today announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2024.

“AI Cloud continued to accelerate in the second quarter, offsetting the ongoing macro headwinds for online marketing revenue and resulting in modestly positive topline growth for Baidu Core. Operationally, we fast-tracked the renovation of Baidu search, which we believe will drive long-term success despite the short-term impact on monetization. We also achieved new breakthroughs with Apollo Go, which now offers 100% fully driverless ride-hailing services in practically the entire Wuhan municipality, and has started scalable testing of the latest RT6 vehicles,” said Robin Li, Co-founder and CEO of Baidu. “Gradually, the transformative impact of Gen-AI and foundation models is becoming more tangible in business and everyday life. Throughout all layers of our AI technology stack and with the rapid adoption of applications built on top of ERNIE, we are scaling AI to address real-world problems and generate substantial value both for external customers and our own product portfolio.”

“As we speeded up the AI-native transformation of our products in the second quarter, we continued to optimize our operations and maintained a healthy margin,” said Rong Luo, CFO of Baidu. “For AI Cloud in particular, we expect growth to maintain a strong momentum.”

Second Quarter 2024 Financial Highlights[1]

Baidu, Inc.

(In millions except per

ADS, unaudited)

2023

2024

YOY

QOQ

RMB

US$

Total revenues

34,056

31,513

33,931

4,669

(0 %)

8 %

Operating income

5,210

5,484

5,944

818

14 %

8 %

Operating income (non-GAAP) [2]

7,334

6,673

7,500

1,032

2 %

12 %

Net income to Baidu

5,210

5,448

5,488

755

5 %

1 %

Net income to Baidu (non-GAAP) [2]

7,998

7,011

7,396

1,018

(8 %)

5 %

Diluted earnings per ADS

14.17

14.91

15.01

2.07

6 %

1 %

Diluted earnings per ADS (non-GAAP) [2]

22.55

19.91

21.02

2.89

(7 %)

6 %

Adjusted EBITDA [2]

9,116

8,244

9,147

1,259

0 %

11 %

Adjusted EBITDA margin

27 %

26 %

27 %

Baidu Core

(In millions, unaudited)

2023

2024

YOY

QOQ

RMB

US$

Total revenues

26,407

23,803

26,687

3,672

1 %

12 %

Operating income

4,568

4,538

5,608

772

23 %

24 %

Operating income (non-GAAP) [2]

6,516

5,586

7,005

964

8 %

25 %

Net income to Baidu Core

5,012

5,150

5,462

752

9 %

6 %

Net income to Baidu Core (non-GAAP) [2]

7,694

6,628

7,290

1,003

(5 %)

10 %

Adjusted EBITDA[2]

8,229

7,118

8,617

1,186

5 %

21 %

Adjusted EBITDA margin

31 %

30 %

32 %

[1] Unless otherwise noted, RMB to USD was converted at an exchange rate of RMB7.2672 as of June 28, 2024,
as set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Translations
are provided solely for the convenience of the reader.

[2] Non-GAAP measures are defined in the Non-GAAP Financial Measures section (see also “Reconciliations of
Non-GAAP Financial Measures to the Nearest Comparable GAAP Measures” for more details).

Operational Highlights

Corporate

Baidu expanded the ERNIE family of models with the launch of ERNIE 4.0 Turbo in June 2024, offering superior capabilities for typical use cases, and designed to run faster and at lower cost compared to ERNIE 4.0.Baidu returned US$301 million to shareholders since the beginning of Q2 2024, bringing the cumulative repurchase to about US$1.2 billion under the 2023 share repurchase program.Baidu earned a position in the China edition of the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook, in recognition of its exceptional ESG performance. The selection stems from a comprehensive evaluation of 1,700 Chinese companies as part of the S&P Global 2023 Corporate Sustainability Assessment, underscoring Baidu’s sustainability practices.

AI Cloud

PaddlePaddle and ERNIE developer community grew to 14.7 million in June 2024.

Intelligent Driving

Apollo Go, Baidu’s autonomous ride-hailing service, provided about 899K rides in the second quarter of 2024, up 26% year over year. As of July 28, 2024, the cumulative rides provided to the public by Apollo Go surpassed 7 million.On June 19, Apollo Go started offering 100% fully driverless operations in practically the entire Wuhan municipality, its largest operational city, marking a significant milestone.The sixth-generation of our autonomous vehicle, the RT6, is now undergoing scalable testing.

Mobile Ecosystem

In June 2024, Baidu App’s MAUs reached 703 million, up 4% year over year.Managed Page accounted for 51% of Baidu Core’s online marketing revenue in the second quarter of 2024.

Second Quarter 2024 Financial Results

Total revenues were RMB33.9 billion ($4.67 billion), which was basically flat from last year.

Revenue from Baidu Core was RMB26.7 billion ($3.67 billion), increasing 1% year over year; online marketing revenue was RMB19.2 billion ($2.64 billion), decreasing 2% year over year, and non-online marketing revenue was RMB7.5 billion ($1.03 billion), up 10% year over year, mainly driven by AI Cloud business.Revenue from iQIYI was RMB7.4 billion ($1.02 billion), decreasing 5% year over year.

Cost of revenues was RMB16.4 billion ($2.26 billion), increasing 1% year over year, primarily due to an increase in traffic acquisition costs and costs related to AI Cloud business.

Selling, general and administrative expenses were RMB5.7 billion ($784 million), decreasing 9% year over year, primarily due to a decrease in expected credit losses, channel spending and promotional marketing expenses and personnel related expenses.

Research and development expenses were RMB5.9 billion ($810 million), decreasing 8% year over year, primarily due to a decrease in personnel related expenses.

Operating income was RMB5.9 billion ($818 million). Baidu Core operating income was RMB5.6 billion ($772 million), and Baidu Core operating margin was 21%. Non-GAAP operating income was RMB7.5 billion ($1.03 billion). Non-GAAP Baidu Core operating income was RMB7.0 billion ($964 million), and non-GAAP Baidu Core operating margin was 26%.

Total other income, net was RMB771 million ($106 million), decreasing 44% year over year, primarily due to a decrease in net foreign exchange gain and disposal gain, partially offset by the decrease in fair value loss and impairment loss from long-term investments.

Income tax expense was RMB1.1 billion ($156 million), compared to RMB1.3 billion in the same period last year.

Net income attributable to Baidu was RMB5.5 billion ($755 million), and diluted earnings per ADS was RMB15.01 ($2.07). Net income attributable to Baidu Core was RMB5.5 billion ($752 million), and net margin for Baidu Core was 20%. Non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu was RMB7.4 billion ($1.02 billion). Non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS was RMB21.02 ($2.89). Non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu Core was RMB7.3 billion ($1.00 billion), and non-GAAP net margin for Baidu Core was 27%.

Adjusted EBITDA was RMB9.1 billion ($1.26 billion) and adjusted EBITDA margin was 27%. Adjusted EBITDA for Baidu Core was RMB8.6 billion ($1.19 billion) and adjusted EBITDA margin for Baidu Core was 32%.

As of June 30, 2024, cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments were RMB162.0 billion ($22.29 billion), and cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments excluding iQIYI were RMB155.0 billion ($21.32 billion). Free cash flow was RMB6.3 billion ($862 million), and free cash flow excluding iQIYI was RMB5.9 billion ($810 million).

Conference Call Information

Baidu’s management will hold an earnings conference call at 8.00 AM on Aug 22, 2024, U.S. Eastern Time (8.00 PM on Aug 22, 2024, Beijing Time).

Please register in advance of the conference call using the link provided below. It will automatically direct you to the registration page of “Baidu Inc. Q2 2024 Earnings Conference Call”. Please follow the steps to enter your registration details, then click “Register”. Upon registering, you will then be provided with the dial-in number, the passcode, and your unique access PIN. This information will also be emailed to you as a calendar invite.

For pre-registration, please click:
https://s1.c-conf.com/diamondpass/10040402-jgu7y6.html

In the 10 minutes prior to the call start time, you may use the conference access information (including dial-in number(s), the passcode and unique access PIN) provided in the calendar invite that you have received following your pre-registration.

Additionally, a live and archived webcast of this conference call will be available at https://ir.baidu.com.

About Baidu

Founded in 2000, Baidu’s mission is to make the complicated world simpler through technology. Baidu is a leading AI company with strong Internet foundation, trading on NASDAQ under “BIDU” and HKEX under “9888”. One Baidu ADS represents eight Class A ordinary shares.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “confident” and similar statements. Among other things, Baidu’s and other parties’ strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. Baidu may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in announcements made on the website of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Hong Kong Stock Exchange”), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including but not limited to statements about Baidu’s beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: Baidu’s growth strategies; its future business development, including development of new products and services; its ability to attract and retain users and customers; competition in the Chinese Internet search and newsfeed market; competition for online marketing customers; changes in the Company’s revenues and certain cost or expense items as a percentage of its revenues; the outcome of ongoing, or any future, litigation or arbitration, including those relating to intellectual property rights; the expected growth of the Chinese-language Internet search and newsfeed market and the number of Internet and broadband users in China; Chinese governmental policies relating to the Internet and Internet search providers, and general economic conditions in China and elsewhere. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and announcements on the website of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Baidu does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of the press release, and Baidu undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement Baidu’s consolidated financial results presented in accordance with GAAP, Baidu uses the following non-GAAP financial measures: non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu, non-GAAP net margin, non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin and free cash flow. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP.

Baidu believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding its performance and liquidity by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of its recurring core business operating results, such as operating performance excluding non-cash charges or non-operating in nature. The Company believes that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing its performance and when planning and forecasting future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management’s internal comparisons to Baidu’s historical performance and liquidity. The Company believes these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors in allowing for greater transparency with respect to supplemental information used by management in its financial and operational decision making. A limitation of using these non-GAAP financial measures is that these non-GAAP measures exclude certain items that have been and will continue to be for the foreseeable future a significant component in the Company’s results of operations. These non-GAAP financial measures presented here may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Other companies may calculate similarly titled measures differently, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures to the Company’s data.

Non-GAAP operating income represents operating income excluding share-based compensation expenses, and amortization and impairment of intangible assets resulting from business combinations.

Non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu represents net income attributable to Baidu excluding share-based compensation expenses, amortization and impairment of intangible assets resulting from business combinations, disposal gain, impairment of long-term investments, and fair value gain (loss) of long-term investments, adjusted for related income tax effects. Baidu’s share of equity method investments for these non-GAAP reconciling items, amortization and impairment of intangible assets not on the investees’ books, accretion of their redeemable non-controlling interests, and the gain or loss associated with the issuance of shares by the investees at a price higher or lower than the carrying value per share, adjusted for related income tax effects, are also excluded.

Non-GAAP diluted earnings per ADS represents diluted earnings per ADS calculated by dividing non-GAAP net income attributable to Baidu, by the weighted average number of ordinary shares expressed in ADS. Adjusted EBITDA represents operating income excluding depreciation, amortization and impairment of intangible assets resulting from business combinations, and share-based compensation expenses.

For more information on non-GAAP financial measures, please see the tables captioned “Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the nearest comparable GAAP measure.”

Baidu, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income

(In millions except for per share (or ADS) information, unaudited)

Three Months Ended

Six Months Ended

June 30,

March 31,

June 30,

2023

2024

2023

2024

RMB

US$(2)

RMB

US$(2)

Revenues:

Online marketing services

21,081

18,490

20,625

2,838

39,053

39,115

5,382

Others

12,975

13,023

13,306

1,831

26,147

26,329

3,623

Total revenues

34,056

31,513

33,931

4,669

65,200

65,444

9,005

Costs and expenses:

Cost of revenues(1)

16,167

15,291

16,398

2,257

31,319

31,689

4,361

Selling, general and administrative(1)

6,298

5,375

5,700

784

11,887

11,075

1,524

Research and development(1)

6,381

5,363

5,889

810

11,804

11,252

1,548

Total costs and expenses

28,846

26,029

27,987

3,851

55,010

54,016

7,433

Operating income

5,210

5,484

5,944

818

10,190

11,428

1,572

Other income:

Interest income

1,948

2,091

1,993

274

3,863

4,084

562

Interest expense

(817)

(766)

(742)

(102)

(1,621)

(1,508)

(208)

Foreign exchange gain, net

1,176

401

1,070

494

Share of losses from equity method investments

(383)

(205)

(119)

(16)

(431)

(324)

(45)

Others, net

(555)

(275)

(454)

(63)

1,083

(729)

(100)

Total other income, net

1,369

1,246

771

106

3,964

2,017

277

Income before income taxes

6,579

6,730

6,715

924

14,154

13,445

1,849

Income tax expense

1,270

883

1,131

156

2,463

2,014

277

Net income

5,309

5,847

5,584

768

11,691

11,431

1,572

Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests

399

656

495

Net income attributable to Baidu

5,210

5,448

5,488

755

11,035

10,936

1,504

Earnings per ADS (1 ADS representing 8 Class A ordinary shares):

-Basic

14.34

14.97

15.11

2.08

30.55

30.12

4.14

-Diluted

14.17

14.91

15.01

2.07

30.05

29.98

4.13

Earnings per share for Class A and Class B ordinary shares:

-Basic

1.79

1.87

1.89

0.26

3.82

3.77

0.52

-Diluted

1.77

1.86

1.88

0.26

3.76

3.74

0.51

Weighted average number of Class A and Class B ordinary shares outstanding (in millions):

-Basic

2,804

2,796

2,801

2,800

-Diluted

2,834

2,816

2,804

2,836

2,810

(1) Includes share-based compensation expenses as follows:

Cost of revenues

194

108

146

292

254

Selling, general and administrative

446

417

385

909

802

110

Research and development

1,403

618

981

135

2,231

1,599

220

Total share-based compensation expenses

2,043

1,143

1,512

208

3,432

2,655

365

(2) All translations from RMB to U.S. dollars are made at a rate of RMB7.2672 to US$1.00, the exchange rate in effect as of June 28, 2024 as set forth in the H.10 statistical release of The Board of Governors
of the Federal Reserve System.

Baidu, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(In millions, unaudited)

December 31,

June 30,

2023

2024

RMB

US$

ASSETS

Current assets:

Cash and cash equivalents

25,231

43,534

5,990

Restricted cash

11,503

11,646

1,603

Short-term investments, net

168,670

106,821

14,699

Accounts receivable, net

10,848

11,112

1,529

Amounts due from related parties

1,424

1,396

192

Other current assets, net

12,579

12,757

1,756

Total current assets

230,255

187,266

25,769

Non-current assets:

Fixed assets, net

27,960

29,154

4,012

Licensed copyrights, net

6,967

6,914

951

Produced content, net

13,377

14,320

1,970

Intangible assets, net

881

812

112

Goodwill

22,586

3,108

Long-term investments, net

47,957

46,193

6,356

Long-term time deposits and held-to-maturity investments

24,666

72,497

9,976

Amounts due from related parties

195

212

Deferred tax assets, net

2,100

2,342

322

Operating lease right-of-use assets

10,851

10,919

1,503

Other non-current assets

18,964

22,312

3,071

Total non-current assets

176,504

228,261

31,410

Total assets

406,759

415,527

57,179

LIABILITIES, REDEEMABLE NONCONTROLLING INTERESTS AND EQUITY

Current liabilities:

Short-term loans

10,257

12,514

1,722

Accounts payable and accrued liabilities

37,717

37,988

5,227

Customer deposits and deferred revenue

14,627

14,038

1,932

Deferred income

306

291

Long-term loans, current portion

Convertible senior notes, current portion

2,802

2,892

398

Notes payable, current portion

6,029

7,986

1,099

Amounts due to related parties

1,603

1,831

252

Operating lease liabilities

3,108

3,196

440

Total current liabilities

76,451

80,765

11,114

Non-current liabilities:

Deferred income

200

287

Deferred revenue

481

520

Amounts due to related parties

Long-term loans

14,223

14,859

2,045

Notes payable

34,990

27,860

3,834

Convertible senior notes

8,144

8,408

1,157

Deferred tax liabilities

2,725

2,940

405

Operating lease liabilities

5,040

5,056

696

Other non-current liabilities

1,820

1,827

250

Total non-current liabilities

67,700

61,824

8,507

Total liabilities

144,151

142,589

19,621

Redeemable noncontrolling interests

9,465

10,107

1,391

Equity

Total Baidu shareholders’ equity

243,626

252,769

34,782

Noncontrolling interests

9,517

10,062

1,385

Total equity

253,143

262,831

36,167

Total liabilities, redeemable noncontrolling interests, and equity

406,759

415,527

57,179

Baidu, Inc.

Selected Information

(In millions, unaudited)

Three months ended
June 30, 2023 (RMB)

Three months ended
March 31, 2024 (RMB)

Three months ended
June 30, 2024 (RMB)

Three months ended
June 30, 2024 (US$)

Baidu
Core

iQIYI

Elim &
adj(2)

Baidu,
Inc.

Baidu
Core

iQIYI

Elim &
adj(2)

Baidu,
Inc.

Baidu
Core

iQIYI

Elim &
adj(2)

Baidu,
Inc.

Baidu
Core

iQIYI

Elim &
adj(2)

Baidu,
Inc.

Total revenues

26,407

7,802

(153)

34,056

23,803

7,927

(217)

31,513

26,687

7,439

(195)

33,931

3,672

1,024

(27)

4,669

YOY

1 %

(5 %)

(0 %)

QOQ

12 %

(6 %)

8 %

Costs and expenses:

Cost of revenues (1)

10,553

5,774

(160)

16,167

9,839

5,631

(179)

15,291

10,888

5,678

(168)

16,398

1,498

781

(22)

2,257

Selling, general and administrative (1)

5,344

979

(25)

6,298

4,492

922

(39)

5,375

4,751

970

(21)

5,700

654

133

(3)

784

Research and development (1)

5,942

439

–

6,381

4,934

429

–

5,363

5,440

449

–

5,889

748

–

810

Total costs and expenses

21,839

7,192

(185)

28,846

19,265

6,982

(218)

26,029

21,079

7,097

(189)

27,987

2,900

976

(25)

3,851

YOY

Cost of revenues

3 %

(2 %)

1 %

Selling, general and administrative

(11 %)

(1 %)

(9 %)

Research and development

(8 %)

2 %

(8 %)

Costs and expenses

(3 %)

(1 %)

(3 %)

Operating income (loss)

4,568

610

5,210

4,538

945

5,484

5,608

342

(6)

5,944

772

(2)

818

YOY

23 %

(44 %)

14 %

QOQ

24 %

(64 %)

8 %

Operating margin

17 %

8 %

15 %

19 %

12 %

17 %

21 %

5 %

18 %

Add: total other income (loss), net

1,603

(234)

–

1,369

1,508

(262)

–

1,246

1,011

(240)

–

771

139

(33)

–

106

Less: income tax expense

1,262

–

1,270

866

–

883

1,105

–

1,131

152

–

156

Less: net (loss) income attributable to NCI

(103)

199

(3)

358

(3)

399

(3)

Net income (loss) attributable to Baidu

5,012

365

(167)

5,210

5,150

655

(357)

5,448

5,462

(43)

5,488

752

(7)

755

YOY

9 %

(81 %)

5 %

QOQ

6 %

(89 %)

1 %

Net margin

19 %

5 %

15 %

22 %

8 %

17 %

20 %

1 %

16 %

Non-GAAP financial measures:

Operating income (non-GAAP)

6,516

786

7,334

5,586

1,086

6,673

7,005

501

7,500

964

1,032

YOY

8 %

(36 %)

2 %

QOQ

25 %

(54 %)

12 %

Operating margin (non-GAAP)

25 %

10 %

22 %

23 %

14 %

21 %

26 %

7 %

22 %

Net income attributable to Baidu (non-GAAP)

7,694

595

7,998

6,628

844

7,011

7,290

247

7,396

1,003

1,018

YOY

(5 %)

(58 %)

(8 %)

QOQ

10 %

(71 %)

5 %

Net margin (non-GAAP)

29 %

8 %

23 %

28 %

11 %

22 %

27 %

3 %

22 %

Adjusted EBITDA

8,229

855

9,116

7,118

1,125

8,244

8,617

536

9,147

1,186

1,259

YOY

5 %

(37 %)

0 %

QOQ

21 %

(52 %)

11 %

Adjusted EBITDA margin

31 %

11 %

27 %

30 %

14 %

26 %

32 %

7 %

27 %

(1) Includes share-based compensation as follows:

Cost of revenues

160

194

108

117

146

Selling, general and administrative

356

446

353

417

292

385

Research and development

1,358

1,403

575

618

945

981

130

135

Total share-based compensation

1,874

169

2,043

1,004

139

1,143

1,354

158

1,512

186

208

(2) Relates to intersegment eliminations and adjustments

(3) Relates to the net income attributable to iQIYI noncontrolling interests

Baidu, Inc.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(In millions,unaudited)

Three months ended

June 30, 2023 (RMB)

March 31, 2024 (RMB)

June 30, 2024 (RMB)

June 30, 2024 (US$)

Baidu
excl.
iQIYI

iQIYI

Baidu,
Inc.

Baidu
excl.
iQIYI

iQIYI

Baidu,
Inc.

Baidu
excl.
iQIYI

iQIYI

Baidu,
Inc.

Baidu
excl.
iQIYI

iQIYI

Baidu,
Inc.

Net cash provided by operating activities

9,746

886

10,632

5,284

936

6,220

7,970

409

8,379

1,097

1,153

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities

7,309

(421)

6,888

(2,893)

(223)

(3,116)

13,824

337

14,161

1,903

1,949

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities

1,908

(1,176)

732

2,126

261

2,387

(9,946)

869

(9,077)

(1,369)

120

(1,249)

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash
equivalents and restricted cash

496

128

624

154

169

Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and
restricted cash

19,459

(583)

18,876

4,671

989

5,660

11,914

1,637

13,551

1,640

225

1,865

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash

At beginning of period

30,355

5,665

36,020

32,293

5,281

37,574

36,964

6,270

43,234

5,086

863

5,949

At end of period

49,814

5,082

54,896

36,964

6,270

43,234

48,878

7,907

56,785

6,726

1,088

7,814

Net cash provided by operating activities

9,746

886

10,632

5,284

936

6,220

7,970

409

8,379

1,097

1,153

Less: Capital expenditures

(2,693)

(13)

(2,706)

(2,016)

(22)

(2,038)

(2,090)

(28)

(2,118)

(287)

(4)

(291)

Free cash flow

7,053

873

7,926

3,268

914

4,182

5,880

381

6,261

810

862

Note: Baidu excl. iQIYI represents Baidu, Inc. minus iQIYI’s consolidated cash flows.

Baidu, Inc.

Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Financial Measures to the Nearest Comparable GAAP Measures

(In millions except for per ADS information, unaudited)

Three months ended

June 30, 2023 (RMB)

March 31, 2024 (RMB)

June 30, 2024 (RMB)

June 30, 2024 (US$)

Baidu
Core

iQIYI

Baidu,
Inc.

Baidu
Core

iQIYI

Baidu,
Inc.

Baidu
Core

iQIYI

Baidu,
Inc.

Baidu
Core

iQIYI

Baidu,
Inc.

Operating income

4,568

610

5,210

4,538

945

5,484

5,608

342

5,944

772

818

Add: Share-based compensation expenses

1,874

169

2,043

1,004

139

1,143

1,354

158

1,512

186

208

Add: Amortization and impairment of intangible assets(1)

–

Operating income (non-GAAP)

6,516

786

7,334

5,586

1,086

6,673

7,005

501

7,500

964

1,032

Add: Depreciation of fixed assets

1,713

1,782

1,532

1,571

1,612

1,647

222

227

Adjusted EBITDA

8,229

855

9,116

7,118

1,125

8,244

8,617

536

9,147

1,186

1,259

Net income attributable to Baidu

5,012

365

5,210

5,150

655

5,448

5,462

5,488

752

755

Add: Share-based compensation expenses

1,872

169

1,949

1,003

139

1,066

1,353

158

1,425

185

196

Add: Amortization and impairment of intangible assets(1)

–

Add: Disposal (gain)

(919)

(89)

(959)

(458)

–

(458)

(30)

–

(30)

(4)

–

(4)

Add: Impairment of long-term investments

270

155

340

Add: Fair value loss (gain) of long-term investments

1,239

(4)

1,237

725

(23)

714

531

–

Add: Reconciling items on equity method investments(2)

296

(9)

292

280

–

280

–

Add: Tax effects on non-GAAP adjustments(3)

(137)

(136)

(150)

–

(150)

(176)

–

(176)

(24)

–

(24)

Net income attributable to Baidu (non-GAAP)

7,694

595

7,998

6,628

844

7,011

7,290

247

7,396

1,003

1,018

Diluted earnings per ADS

14.17

14.91

15.01

2.07

Add: Accretion of the redeemable noncontrolling interests

0.50

0.55

0.57

0.08

Add: Non-GAAP adjustments to earnings per ADS

7.88

4.45

5.44

0.74

Diluted earnings per ADS (non-GAAP)

22.55

19.91

21.02

2.89

(1) This represents amortization and impairment of intangible assets resulting from business combinations.

(2) This represents Baidu’s share of equity method investments for other non-GAAP reconciling items, amortization and impairment of intangible assets not on the investee’s books, accretion of their redeemable noncontrolling interests, and the gain or loss
associated with the issuance of shares by the investees at a price higher or lower than the carrying value per share.

(3) This represents tax impact of all non-GAAP adjustments.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/baidu-announces-second-quarter-2024-results-302228460.html

SOURCE Baidu, Inc.

Technology

Safetyfirst Systems, LLC Provides Notice of Data Security Event

Published

44 minutes ago

July 24, 2026

PARSIPPANY, N.J., July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Safetyfirst Systems, LLC (“SFS”) is providing notice of a data security event that may involve information relating to certain individuals. While SFS is not aware of any misuse of information associated with this event, it is providing notice to potentially affected individuals out of an abundance of caution.

On January 19, 2026, SFS identified suspicious activity involving a limited portion of its server environment. Upon discovering the activity, SFS quickly took steps to secure its systems, notified federal law enforcement, engaged leading third-party forensic specialists, and performed a detailed investigation into the nature, scope, and impact of the activity. The investigation determined that an unauthorized actor accessed and/or acquired certain files from limited SFS systems between January 16, 2026, and January 19, 2026. SFS then conducted a comprehensive review of the affected files to determine what information may have been involved and identify the individuals to whom the information relates. The review has recently concluded, and SFS is providing this notification to potentially impacted individuals out of an abundance of caution. Although the types of information vary by individual, the affected information may include names, Social Security numbers, and driver’s license numbers.

Protecting the privacy and security of the information entrusted to SFS is a responsibility the company takes very seriously. In response to this event, SFS promptly strengthened security measures, continues to enhance its technical safeguards and monitoring capabilities, and is reviewing existing policies and procedures to further protect against similar incidents in the future. SFS is also providing notice to potentially affected individuals and, where required, appropriate regulatory authorities.

Although SFS is unaware of any misuse of personal information impacted by this event, individuals are encouraged to remain vigilant against events of identity theft by reviewing account statements, explanation of benefits, and monitoring free credit reports for suspicious activity and to detect errors. Any suspicious activity should be reported to the appropriate insurance company, health care provider, or financial institution.

Individuals seeking additional information regarding this event can contact SFS’s dedicated assistance line at 1-833-289-5523 between the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Individuals may also write to SFS at PO Box 101, 3299 US Highway 46, Parsippany, NJ 07054-9998.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/safetyfirst-systems-llc-provides-notice-of-data-security-event-302831894.html

SOURCE Safetyfirst Systems, LLC

Technology

Sunrate and Mastercard Release White Paper on Agentic AI and the Future of B2B Global Payments

Published

44 minutes ago

July 24, 2026

SHANGHAI, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Sunrate, the global payment and treasury management platform, and Mastercard, a global technology company in the payments industry, unveiled a joint white paper, Beyond Automation: Defining Agentic Global Payments, at the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC).

Among the first reports in the payments industry to examine the impact of Agentic AI on B2B cross-border payments, the white paper provides a comprehensive framework for understanding how AI agents are reshaping enterprise payment operations. It proposes that cross-border payments are evolving beyond digitisation and automation into a new stage: Autonomy—where AI agents with reasoning, planning, and execution capabilities can independently orchestrate and optimise end-to-end payment and treasury workflows within defined governance frameworks.

As businesses expand across borders, B2B cross-border payments continue to be constrained by fragmented workflows, disconnected systems, foreign exchange inefficiencies, rising compliance requirements, and complex reconciliation processes. While traditional automation improves individual tasks, the white paper demonstrates that Agentic AI represents a fundamental shift by enabling intelligent agents to coordinate entire payment journeys across systems, counterparties, and approval workflows.

Drawing on Sunrate’s global payment infrastructure and AI-native product capabilities, together with Mastercard’s expertise in secure payment networks and data intelligence, the white paper defines Agentic Global Payments — a new category of AI-native global payment infrastructure built to automate and manage complex enterprise workflows.

The report identifies 16 major pain points across the B2B payment lifecycle and outlines 13 high-value AI use cases spanning supplier onboarding, accounts payable and receivable, virtual commercial cards, payment routing, foreign exchange management, compliance screening, fraud detection, reconciliation, and conversational operational support. It also demonstrates how AI agents can automate complex workflows—from extracting information across multiple document formats and conducting compliance checks to initiating payments, optimising FX execution, and completing reconciliation—while operating within enterprise governance and control frameworks.

The white paper further highlights that trusted adoption of agentic payments depends on more than technological capability. It identifies governance, transparency, security, and ecosystem collaboration as essential foundations for enterprise deployment, supported by frameworks such as Know Your Agent (KYA), payment tokenisation, auditability, and cross-industry interoperability.

Sunrate.AI portfolio currently includes the Payment Agent, FX Agent, Compliance Agent, Onboarding Agent, and Chat Agent, designed to help enterprises automate and optimise critical payment and treasury processes while maintaining compliance and operational control.

Mastercard has also been actively building the foundations for trusted agentic commerce – combining AI capabilities with verifiable authorisation, clear accountability and proven payments security. Its work in this area, including Agent Pay (alongside Agent Pay for Machines) and Verifiable Intent, are proof points in how Mastercard is enabling AI to participate in commerce safely and transparently.

“Our mission is to make global payments seamless, compliant, and intelligent,” said Paul Meng, Co-founder and CEO of Sunrate. “As businesses continue expanding internationally, AI agents will fundamentally reshape how enterprises manage global payments—enabling smoother capital flows, reducing operational friction, and embedding real-time intelligence into every payment decision. This white paper represents an important step in helping the industry understand how Agentic AI can be deployed responsibly at enterprise scale.”

“Agentic commerce is changing how businesses make and execute payment decisions, but speed without accountability creates new categories of risk,” said Anouska Ladds, Executive Vice President, Commercial & New Payment Flows, Asia Pacific, Mastercard. “As AI starts to act on behalf of businesses, autonomous payment decisions need a clear, auditable chain of identity, intent and action. That’s what allows organisations to delegate with genuine confidence — and what will determine whether agentic commerce scales past pilots.”

Released under WAIC 2026’s theme, “Intelligent Partners, Co-creating the Future,” the white paper provides business leaders with practical guidance on adopting AI-driven payment capabilities, covering implementation approaches, governance considerations, and real-world enterprise applications.

By combining Sunrate’s expertise in global payments and treasury management with Mastercard’s trusted payment infrastructure and network capabilities, the collaboration reflects a shared commitment to accelerating the next generation of intelligent, secure, and autonomous B2B global payments.

Click here to check the white paper.

About Sunrate

Sunrate is a leading global payment and treasury management platform for businesses worldwide. Founded in 2016, Sunrate has enabled companies to operate and scale both locally and globally in 190+ countries and regions with its cutting-edge infrastructure, global network, and unified solutions.

Sunrate operates through offices across key markets, including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and London. The company partners with the top global financial institutions, such as Citibank, Standard Chartered, Barclays, J.P. Morgan. Sunrate is also the principal member of Mastercard and Visa. To learn more about Sunrate, visit https://www.sunrate.com/.

About Mastercard

Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we’re building a resilient economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, simple, smart and accessible. Our technology and innovation, partnerships and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential.

www.mastercard.com

SOURCE Sunrate

Technology

JAMS Launches AI for Enterprise Job Scheduling: JAX and JAMS MCP

Published

45 minutes ago

July 24, 2026

A new AI agent and an open-standard connector let IT teams query, diagnose, and manage automation in plain language, on the model they choose, with operational data able to stay onshore inside their own network

SYDNEY, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — JAMS Software, an orchestration solution for scheduled and event-driven automation, today announced the general availability of two AI capabilities for enterprise job scheduling: JAX, an AI agent built into the JAMS Web Client, and JAMS MCP, a connector built on the open Model Context Protocol standard that brings JAMS into external AI coding tools. Both capabilities ship at no additional cost as part of JAMS Web.

Automation environments grow faster than the teams that run them. Jobs multiply across SQL Server, Azure Data Factory, Airflow, SAP, JDE, and Banner, and when one fails, finding the root cause often means searching several consoles at once, frequently outside business hours. At the same time, IT leaders carry pressure to adopt AI while staying accountable for where operational data goes. JAX and JAMS MCP close both gaps together.

Full details on how JAX and JAMS MCP work, including the control model behind every action, are available at jamsscheduler.com/product/ai.

JAX is an AI agent that runs inside the JAMS Web Client. It finds jobs, troubleshoots failures, and answers how-to questions in plain language, with each response grounded in the JAMS user guide and checked against a built-in glossary. JAX acts only when a user asks it to. Reads flow freely, and every write action pauses for the user’s explicit approval before it runs. JAX does not learn between sessions, and conversations are not retained on the server.

JAMS MCP is a connector, built on the open Model Context Protocol standard, that brings JAMS into the AI tools engineering teams already use, including Cursor, VS Code with Copilot, Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and Codex. Users query jobs, investigate failures, and manage runs in plain language without leaving their tool.

Both capabilities run inside the customer’s own network and act as the signed-in user, with that user’s exact JAMS permissions. There is no elevated AI account: whatever a user cannot do in the JAMS interface, JAX and JAMS MCP cannot do on that user’s behalf. Every JAX and MCP operation is recorded in its own dedicated log, and changes made through the JAMS API land in the JAMS audit trail like any other change. Customers choose their own AI model, whether a commercial provider such as OpenAI or Anthropic or a model running entirely on their own hardware, and JAMS never trains on customer data. In the current release, neither feature edits or deletes a job, folder, schedule, or agent definition. For teams that need operational data to stay onshore, JAX runs on a local model entirely inside the customer’s own network, so nothing leaves at all.

“Adopting AI usually means giving something up, most often visibility into where your data goes,” said Pete Hegland, Chief Executive Officer of JAMS Software. “We built JAX and JAMS MCP so that trade does not have to happen. Every action runs as the signed-in user, every change waits for approval, and the model can run on the customer’s own hardware, keeping operational data onshore.”

“For teams across Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, two things matter: keeping data onshore, and getting answers when a job fails after hours,” said Shayne Cooper, Account Executive for APAC at JAMS Software. “JAX and JAMS MCP address both. The model can run on the customer’s own hardware, and the answer arrives in plain language at the moment it is needed.”

JAX and JAMS MCP are available now to all JAMS Web customers across Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, with no separate licence, SKU, or additional cost. AI-assisted creation of new jobs and workflows from a plain-language description is on the roadmap for a future release, gated by the same approvals and permissions as every other action.

Learn how JAX and JAMS MCP work at https://jamsscheduler.com/product/ai.

Fast facts

JAX is an AI agent built into the JAMS Web Client for job scheduling and workflow automation.JAMS MCP is a connector built on the open Model Context Protocol standard, for Cursor, VS Code with Copilot, Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and Codex.Both act as the signed-in user, with that user’s exact JAMS permissions, and there is no elevated AI account.Customers choose the AI model, including a local model that runs entirely inside their own network.JAMS never trains on customer data.Both are available now at no additional cost as part of JAMS Web.

About JAMS Software
Founded in 1987, JAMS Software is an orchestration solution that helps IT teams centralize, automate, and manage scheduled and event-driven jobs across complex, hybrid environments. Over 850 customers rely on JAMS to run their automated workloads. JAMS Software, LLC is headquartered at 108 Patriot Drive, Suite A, Middletown, DE 19709.

Media Contact
Bobby Schmidt, Vice President of Marketing
press@jamssoftware.com
800.261.4267

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/jams-launches-ai-for-enterprise-job-scheduling-jax-and-jams-mcp-302833800.html

SOURCE JAMS Software