(Yicai Global) Feb. 18 -- Baidu’s shares rose in pre-market trading after the Chinese internet giant said it expects revenue to grow between 15 percent and 26 percent in the first quarter as it forges ahead with artificial intelligence.

Baidu [NASDAQ: BIDU] was trading 4.1 percent higher in New York as of 4.05 a.m. local time. Yesterday, the stock fell 5.4 percent.

Revenue could reach USD4 billion to USD4.4 billion in the three months ending March 30, driven by the firm’s core search business and cloud services, the Beijing-based firm said yesterday when it released earnings results for the fourth quarter and year ended Dec. 31. The forecast does not include any contribution from social video platform YY Live, which Baidu acquired last month, it added.

“As we enter 2021, Baidu is well positioned as a leading AI company with a strong internet foundation to seize the huge market opportunities in cloud services, autonomous driving, smart transportation and other AI opportunities,” founder and Chief Executive Robin Li said.

“We also hope to capitalize on our huge internet reach with more non-marketing services,” he said.

In the three months ended Dec. 31, sales at its search service Baidu Core rose 6 percent from a year earlier to USD3.54 billion, fueled by a 52 percent leap in non-advertising services that accounted for USD645 million.

Overall revenue for the year was USD16.4 billion, the same as in 2019, while net income surged nearly 11-fold to USD3.4 billion.

“Through years of investment in research, smart chip design, developer community, patents and talent development, we are turning AI into innovative applications,” Chief Financial Officer Herman Yu said. “We will continue to invest heavily in technology.”

Editor: Kim Taylor