Baidu quarterly profit rise of 16% misses mark

Baidu on Wednesday reported that its quarterly profit climbed 16 percent to $520.4 million, driven by a surge in smartphone users connecting with the Chinese Internet powerhouse.
The Beijing-based firm said revenue in the final three months of last year totalled $2.264 billion, or 14.05 billion RMB, in a 47.5 percent jump from the same period in 2013.
Revenue from people using mobile devices to connect with Baidu constituted 42 percent of the money taken in during the quarter.
Baidu -- sometimes described as the Chinese equivalent of Google because of its dominance of search in China -- has also been diversifying into other areas of the tech world, including social media, and last year invested in the ride-sharing application Uber.
Baidu reported that profit for the full year tallied $2.125 billion (13.187 billion RMB) in a 25.3 percent rise from 2013. Revenue for the year totalled $7.906 billion (49.052 billion RMB) in a 53.6 percent increase from 2013.
"2014 was a year of remarkable accomplishment for Baidu," said chief executive Robin Li.
"We've successfully transitioned from a PC-centric to a mobile-first company, positioning us well for the next phase of our mobile opportunity: connecting people with services."
The results fell short of Wall Street's high expectations. Baidu shares, traded on the Nasdaq exchange, fell more than six percent to $200.20 in after-market trading.