Baidu Shares Soar as Profits Rise 165%
BEIJING (
) --
Baidu
(BIDI)
shares are soaring in premarket trading Thursday after the operator of China's No. 1 Internet search engine said first-quarter profit rose 165%.
Baidu said earnings rose to $70.4 million, or $2.02 a share. Revenue rose 60% to $189.6 million.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected Baidu to report profits of $1.50 a share on revenue of $180 million.
Baidu benefited greatly from
Google's
(GOOG) - Get Report
decision to
shut its search engine in China
and move it to Hong Kong.
How China Finances U.S. Development (Forbes)
Baidu said it expects second-quarter revenue to rise 67% to 70% to between $268 million and $274 million.
Baidu sharres were at $714 in premarket trading Thursday; the stock closed at $621.38 on Wednesday.
-- Reported by Joseph Woelfel in New York.
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