China's Baidu tops revenue and profit estimates, shares rise

China's Baidu Inc reported on Tuesday quarterly profit and revenue that beat analysts' estimates, powered by strong performances of its search and newsfeed services.

The company's shares rose nearly 5 percent to $236.4 in extended trading.

Baidu, part of China's trinity of tech giants along with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd, is looking to turn around its fortunes after a series of missteps sparked steep losses in 2016.

Revenue from the company's core online marketing - including its search platform and newsfeed - jumped 26.3 percent to 20.4 billion yuan (2.32 billion pounds).
Net income attributable to Baidu rose to 4.16 billion yuan in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from 4.13 billion yuan a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, the company earned 14.9 yuan per ADS.
Total revenue rose 29.3 percent to 23.56 billion yuan.

Analysts on average expected a profit of 13.38 yuan and revenue of 23.05 billion yuan, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Baidu forecast first-quarter revenue between 19.86 billion yuan and 20.97 billion yuan, compared with analysts' average estimate of 21.18 billion yuan.