Baidu profit falls but revenue beats expectations

Leading Chinese internet search provider Baidu has announced a 50 percent plunge in net profit for the fourth quarter but revenue beat expectations on growth in its core search business and a push into artificial intelligence (AI).

The Beijing-based, Nasdaq-listed company said late Thursday its fourth-quarter profit came in at 2.08 billion yuan ($303 million) in the October-December period.

Earnings were hit by losses stemming from non-controlling interests in Baidu's video unit iQiyi, which was spun off last year, and continued investments into new fields.

But total revenues for the quarter were a better-than-expected 27.2 billion yuan, beating analyst estimates and Baidu's own projections, and the company indicated it planned to stay the course.