BEIJING (PingWest) – Leading Chinese tech giant Baidu today announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2018. Baidu said it had a positive quarter. The total revenue for Q4 2018 was $3.96 billion, up 22% year-on-year and surpassing analysts’ estimation of $3.88 billion. Baidu had earned $1.92 per share, also coming in ahead of the $1.79 per share that analysts expected. The total revenue for FY 2018 was $14.88 billion. Baidu's stock was up about 3% in-hours following a strong quarterly posting.

Baidu added in the report that the non-GAAP operating income in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2018 was $386 million, decreasing 54% year-on-year. The net increase was $303 million, decreasing 50% year-on-year.

In the report Baidu said the annual operating income in 2018 was $2.26 billion, increasing 28% from 2017. Net income attributed to Baidu was $4.01 billion, increasing 51% from 2017.

“We are excited to enter the new year on a strong footing with Baidu 2018 revenues reaching RMB 102 billion, up 28% annually. The growth rate of Baidu App DAUs has been accelerating over the past year, up 24% year over year to 161 million in December 2018, while Haokan short video app grew to 19 million DAUs from 1 million a year ago,” stated Robin Li, CEO of Baidu. "2018 was a pivotal year for Baidu, as we worked on deploying AI technologies beyond search to feed, voice assistant, AI solutions, and autonomous driving, to enable more users, customers, and partners to benefit from Baidu's AI."

"The diversification of Baidu's business from mobile internet into the smart home, smart transportation, cloud, and autonomous driving markets will require heavy investments," said Herman Yu, CFO of Baidu. "Nevertheless, these investments taken together give Baidu a balanced portfolio for short-term, medium-term, and long-term returns, and we hope to see these investments bear fruit and accelerate Baidu's revenue growth in the coming years."