Baidu shares volatile after first earnings report

Shares of China's largest Web search company, Baidu.com Inc., fell, rose, then fell again on Wednesday as investors struggled to make sense of the newly public company's first earnings report.

After the market closed on Tuesday, Baidu, which began trading in August, posted sharply higher second-quarter earnings and revenue but forecast a sharp slowdown in revenue growth in the third quarter.

The company, which is thinly followed by U.S. financial analysts, declined to hold a conference call to discuss the results.

Its shares fell almost 9 percent in early trading on Wednesday, recouped those losses and were up 2 percent near midday, but then turned lower again.

Thanks to higher online marketing revenue, the company said Tuesday its overall second-quarter revenue more than doubled, to 69.7 million yuan, or $8.4 million, from 24.1 million yuan a year earlier.

Revenue was up 53 percent from the first quarter.

But its revenue forecast for the third quarter indicated growth from the second quarter of as little as 11 percent.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

It guided to third-quarter revenue of 77.4 million yuan to 81.2 million yuan, or $9.6 million to $10.0 million. That would represent growth of 11 percent to 16.5 percent from the second quarter.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

Baidu shares were down $2.30, or about 3 percent, at $79.70 in afternoon trade on Nasdaq. Earlier, they fell as low as $75, then rose as high as $85.

The shares more than quadrupled in value in their U.S. market debut on Aug. 5, 2004, the most spectacular entry ever by a foreign company, overshadowing world Internet search leader Google Inc.'s float last year.

Baidu shares finished almost 354 percent higher at $122.54 on their first day of trading but have since retreated. The shares were first offered at $27.