China’s Baidu misses quarterly revenue estimates

Chinese search engine giant Baidu’s quarterly revenue fell and was just shy of market estimates on Wednesday, signalling persistent weakness in the advertising market amid prolonged economic uncertainty.

US-listed shares of the company fell about 2% in premarket trading.

Slammed by a property market downturn, weak employment rates and choppy consumer demand, companies in the world’s second-largest economy have reined in advertising spending to cut costs and protect their margins.