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Baidu Beats Estimates With 40% Q4 Rev Growth
Baidu (Nasdaq:BIDU) revenue climbed 39.8% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2009 to $184.7 million, outpacing the company's previously given estimate of 32-36% annual growth due to a better than anticipated performance from Baidu's new Phoenix Nest advertising system, said company Chairman and CEO Robin Li.
Fourth quarter net income rose 48.2% annually to $62.7 million, with diluted earnings per share of $1.80. Costs related to Baidu's Japan operations in the fourth quarter shaved $0.18 off diluted EPS, the company said.
Baidu said it expects revenues ranging from $176 million to $181 million for the first quarter of 2010, representing year-on-year growth of 48-52%.
Online marketing contributed $184.6 million to fourth quarter revenue. Active online marketing customers increased 13.2% annually and 3.2% sequentially to 223,000, while average revenue per online marketing customer was $828, up 23.9% year-on-year but down 3.4% from the previous quarter due to the transition to Phoenix Next, Baidu said.
The company reported traffic acquisition cost of $29.6 million, or 16% of total revenues, as compared to 14.6% in the corresponding period in 2008 and 15.3% in the third quarter of 2009. Baidu attributed the annual increase to normal fluctuation.
For the full year 2009, Baidu net income rose 41.7% from the previous year to $217.6 million, while revenues climbed 39.1% from 2008 to reach $651.6 million.
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