Ge Long Hui·2025-08-21 19:44Core Insights - Baidu Group's total revenue for Q2 2025 was 32.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 3.6%, which was better than the expected decline of 4.8%, primarily due to rapid growth in AI cloud revenue [1] - Non-GAAP net profit was 4.8 billion yuan, with a non-GAAP net profit margin of 14.7%, slightly above the expected 13.9%, but down 7.1 percentage points year-on-year due to continued pressure on the higher-margin advertising business [1] - AI cloud revenue accounted for 24.8% of Baidu's core revenue, an increase of 5.6 percentage points year-on-year, while advertising revenue's share decreased by 10 percentage points [1] Baidu Core Business - Baidu's core revenue decreased by 1.6% year-on-year to 26.3 billion yuan, better than the expected decline of 3.4%, driven by strong growth in AI cloud revenue [1] - Advertising revenue fell by 15% year-on-year to 16.2 billion yuan, impacted by moderate demand from advertisers and the effects of AI search transformation; non-advertising revenue grew by 34% to 10 billion yuan, with AI cloud revenue increasing by 27% to 6.5 billion yuan [1] - Non-GAAP operating profit for Baidu's core business was 4.4 billion yuan, with a non-GAAP operating profit margin of 16.7%, above the expected 15.7%, but down 9.5 percentage points year-on-year due to the declining share of higher-margin advertising business [1] AI Search Transformation - As of the end of June, 50% of Baidu's search results included AI-generated content, up from 35% in April, and by July, 64% of mobile search results featured AI-generated content in structured and multimodal formats [2] - The daily volume of AI-generated videos reached millions since May, with a significant increase in daily sharing on the Baidu app [2] - The Agent format is becoming an important part of Baidu's advertising business, contributing to a 50% quarter-on-quarter revenue increase, accounting for 13% of Baidu's core advertising revenue, up from 9% in Q2 2024 and 10% in Q1 2025 [2] Autonomous Driving Business - Baidu's autonomous driving service, "Luobo Kuaipao," expanded to 16 cities, with over 200 million kilometers driven, and saw a 148% year-on-year increase in order volume to 2.2 million in Q2 2025 [3] - The company has established partnerships with Uber, Lyft, and domestic services like Hello Chuxing and T3, expanding its network of ride-hailing service providers [3] - The Apollo Go fully autonomous vehicle rental service has been launched on the Car Inc. app, providing users with a new way to experience Baidu's autonomous driving [3] Profit Forecast and Valuation - The company has lowered its non-GAAP net profit forecasts for 2025, 2026, and 2027 by 9.6%, 12.0%, and 9.8% to 18.9 billion, 21.1 billion, and 23.7 billion yuan, respectively, due to downward adjustments in high-margin advertising revenue expectations [3] - The target price based on SOTP valuation is set at $89.6 for US stocks and HK$88.0 for Hong Kong stocks, reflecting unchanged multiples for core advertising and AI cloud revenue [3]