Baidu Q1 Revenue 32.1 Billion Yuan, Net Profit Down 55%, AI Share Rises to 52%

In the first quarter of 2026, Baidu reported total revenue of RMB 32.1 billion, down 1.16% year-on-year. Net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 3.445 billion, a decline of 55.36% from the same period last year. AI business revenue as a share of Baidu's general business revenue rose to 52% in Q1 2026 from 43% in Q4 2025.

Within the AI segment, intelligent cloud revenue reached RMB 8.8 billion, up 79% year-on-year, with GPU cloud revenue surging 184%. AI-native marketing services revenue was RMB 2.3 billion, up 36%. Apollo Go provided 3.2 million fully driverless rides in the quarter, with total orders increasing more than 120% year-on-year. As of April 2026, Apollo Go had accumulated over 22 million service orders and operated in 27 cities globally, including major Chinese cities as well as Dubai and Seoul. Baidu achieved per-vehicle breakeven in its largest domestic operating city.

In traditional businesses, online marketing services revenue was RMB 12.6 billion, down 22% year-on-year, and its share of general business fell to 48%. Core search and feed advertising revenue was RMB 10.2 billion, a decline of 29%. Baidu App's monthly active users fell from a peak of 708 million in Q3 2025 to 655 million in March 2026. According to StatCounter, Baidu's share of the Chinese search market, which had remained above 70% from 2017 to 2022, began to decline in 2023 and fell to 44.64% as of April 2026. QuestMobile data as of June 2025 ranked Baidu ninth in China's internet advertising market media position index.

Kunlun Chip started its STAR Market listing tutoring on May 7, 2026, having previously filed a confidential listing application with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in January 2026, forming an A+H dual-track structure. Multiple media reports indicate that Kunlun Chip's Hong Kong IPO target valuation is approximately $50 billion.

Over the past decade, Baidu has invested a cumulative total of more than RMB 180 billion in research and development and holds 27,000 global AI patents, winning the Chinese AI patent championship for seven consecutive years. In Q1 2026, Baidu's sales cost was RMB 19.6 billion, up 12% year-on-year, primarily due to increased costs related to intelligent cloud.

On the consumer AI front, Baidu launched Ernie Bot in March 2023. QuestMobile data for Q1 2026 showed that the Ernie App ranked outside the top ten among AI-native applications.