(Reuters) -Search engine giant Baidu Inc beat first-quarter revenue estimates on Tuesday as businesses spent more on advertising after China lifted COVID curbs late last year. Revenue rose 10% to 31.14 billion yuan ($4.54 billion) in the quarter ended March 31, surpassing analysts’ estimates of 29.97 billion yuan, according to Refinitiv data.
Revenue from Baidu Core, which includes search-based ad sales, cloud offerings and its autonomous driving initiatives, grew 8% to 23 billion yuan. Revenue at its streaming service iQIYI rose 15% to 8.3 billion yuan.
U.S.-listed shares of the company rose 5% in premarket trading.
Business momentum in China is building up in the absence of lockdowns, with consumers and businesses reviving spending as the economy shows signs of stabilizing.
China’s economy grew at a faster-than-expected rate of 4.5% year-on-year in the three months through March, according to the latest official data.
(Reporting by Eduardo Baptista in Beijing, Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Christina Fincher)
