Baidu Beats Earnings, but the Best Is Yet to Come -- The Motley Fool

After an up-and-down start to the year, Chinese search giant Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) issued earnings last week that outperformed on a host of key indicators. As we've come to expect from Baidu, revenue growth remained brisk, increasing at a healthy 31% year-over-year pace to total 2.5 billion. In keeping with its recent quarters, increased spending crimped Baidu's operating profits, which grew only 2.6% compared with the first quarter of 2015. Either way, Baidu's earnings exceeded expectations on the top and bottom line. What's more, Baidu's guidance for second-quarter sales proved better than analysts anticipated, sending the company's shares up in after-hours trading the day of the announcement.