I. Overall financial report situation and personal opinion
After yesterday's Hong Kong stock market $BIDU-SW (09888.HK)$ The financial results for the third quarter of 2023 were announced. Overall, Baidu Group's revenue for the third quarter was RMB 34.4 billion, up 5.9% year on year, up 1% month on month, exceeding market expectations of RMB 33.29 billion, and core revenue of RMB 26.57 billion, up 5.3% year on year, up 0.5% month on month, exceeding market expectations of 25.66 billion yuan; net profit (non-GAAP) attributable to Baidu was 6.44 billion yuan, a significant increase of 9.3% year over year.
$Baidu (BIDU.US)$ The main business situation is shown in the figure below. Among the core businesses, the advertising business accounts for more than 70% of revenue. The innovative business is the future, depending on how much room Baidu has in the future. Currently, it accounts for close to 30% of revenue. In addition, iQiyi is also a non-core business.
First, let me just talk about my personal opinion:
1. Although the data slightly exceeded market expectations, the growth rate was significantly lower than in the second quarter. The growth rate of the core advertising business also lagged behind the market, far lower than Tencent's 19.9%. The adjusted net profit growth rate declined to 9.3%. Although the innovative business is popular, the AI business is still popular and not profitable. In particular, the intelligent driving business still makes money from advertising.
2. The growth rate of smart cloud and other businesses is still only 6%, and revenue is only 6.9 billion, accounting for Baidu's core business...