Baidu Shares Plunge 2.59% on $810M Surge in Trading Volume as Core Ads Tumble 15% and Cloud Rises 34% Propelling Volume to 115th Market Rank

On August 20, 2025, Baidu (BIDU) closed at a 2.59% decline with a trading volume of $0.81 billion, a 148.81% increase from the prior day’s volume, ranking 115th in market activity. The stock’s performance followed a mixed second-quarter earnings report that highlighted persistent challenges in its core advertising segment despite growth in cloud services.

Baidu reported Q2 revenue of ¥32.71 billion ($4.56 billion), a 4% year-over-year decline, narrowly missing consensus estimates. The core online advertising business—accounting for 60% of total revenue—slumped 15% to ¥16.2 billion, reflecting reduced corporate ad spending amid China’s economic slowdown, particularly in the property sector. This decline overshadowed a 34% year-over-year rise in non-advertising revenue, driven by its AI cloud division, which grew 27% to ¥6.5 billion. Adjusted earnings per American Depositary Share (ADS) at ¥13.58 exceeded expectations but failed to offset broader revenue concerns.

Competitive pressures in the generative AI space further weigh on Baidu’s prospects. Its Ernie chatbot, once an early leader in China’s AI market, has lost ground to rivals like ByteDance and open-source models such as Alibaba’s Qwen. To counter this, Baidu has open-sourced its Ernie models and abandoned paid subscription plans, signaling a strategic shift toward market share over immediate profitability. Analysts note that AI monetization remains limited, with tools like Ernie Bot primarily stabilizing user engagement rather than generating new ad revenue.

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