February 13, 2018 / 9:59 PM / in 3 hours

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

(Reuters) - 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 ($3.22 billion).

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.

Reporting by Arjun Panchadar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila