Analysts say Baidu must diversify further 4-Traders

Baidu Inc needs to do more to diversity its business as the Chinese search engine firm falls behind domestic peers Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd in revenue and profit, analysts said on Monday. Such efforts are of urgent importance to help Baidu safeguard its position as one of China's big three internet giants, they added. In the second quarter ended June, Baidu saw 34 percent plunge in net income, which declined to 363 million and was less than one-fourth of that of Tencent, one of the most profitable tech firms in China. Also, as the Beijing-based firm wrestled with tougher government regulations on online advertising in the second quarter, e-commerce heavyweight Alibaba delivered its most robust quarterly growth since its 2014 IPO, marked by a 59 percent year-on-year rise in revenue. Vinsan Wang, an analyst at Tiger Brokerage Group, which provides internet brokerage business for US and Hong Kong stocks, said the revenue and profit gap between Baidu and its two archrivals Alibaba and Tencent is widening, but Baidu is still one of the top players in China's rapidly changing internet landscape.