BEIJING (AP) _ Baidu Inc. (BIDU) on Monday reported third-quarter net income of $2.02 billion, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier.

The Beijing-based company said it had net income of $5.86 per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, came to $3 per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.85 per share.

The web search company posted revenue of $4.16 billion in the period, also topping Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $3.92 billion.

For the current quarter ending in December, Baidu Inc. said it expects revenue in the range of $4.2 billion to $4.6 billion. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had expected revenue of $3.91 billion.

Baidu Inc. shares have risen 17% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Monday, shares hit $147.84, an increase of 25% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on BIDU at https://www.zacks.com/ap/BIDU

Copyright by Automated Insights, Inc. All rights reserved., source Associated Press News