Baidu, Inc. Class A (9888N) Q2 2026 Earnings Report

The call presented a mixed picture: strong, accelerating growth and product momentum across AI Cloud (50% YoY), GPU Cloud (283% YoY), foundation models, applications (ERNIE Assistant DAU +83%, Qianfan tokens >9x, Miaoda MAU +67%), Kunlunxin chips, and meaningful Apollo Go safety and global milestones. These positives are balanced by near-term revenue pressures — total revenue down 4% YoY, continued weakness in online marketing/advertising, a sharp drop in other income, higher income tax expense, and temporary operational impacts on robotaxi volumes. The company retains a strong cash position (RMB 283.1 billion) and improving cloud margins, but advertising headwinds and reduced investment-related gains temper near-term financials.

Management guided that AI Cloud Infra — which grew ~50% YoY in Q2 (with GPU Cloud up 283% YoY, accelerating from 184% in Q1, and embedded AI ~6x YoY) — should remain strong in H2 with potential for further acceleration and margin expansion as GPU Cloud gains share; MaaS/token revenue from external customers grew >9x YoY and AI applications are scaling (ERNIE Assistant DAU +83% YoY in June with daily conversation rounds >3x, Miaoda MAU +67% from March to June), though advertising is expected to remain under pressure in the second half. For Apollo Go, priorities are safety, global expansion, fleet and ride-volume scale (Q2 ~1 million fully driverless rides; >23 million cumulative as of June; safety: ~1 airbag deployment per 14.4M km) and bringing more cities to unit‑economics breakeven as ride volumes recover. They expect the Hong Kong dual primary listing conversion to take effect within this year (EGM Aug 26) with potential Stock Connect inclusion later, will continue disciplined AI investment, and closed Q2 with total cash & investments of RMB 283.1 billion and operating cash flow of RMB 3.4 billion.