Baidu Announces $2B Share Buyback; Its Second Since July

Baidu Inc., China’s largest Internet search company, said it would buy back $2 billion worth of its shares Friday, after it reported a 36 percent surge in revenue for the third quarter Thursday, sending its shares up sharply in U.S. after-market trading.

This would be the company’s second share buyback since July, making it among many U.S.-listed Chinese stocks that are seeking to buy back shares. Earlier this year, Chinese online retailers Alibaba.com and JD.com announced massive share buyback programs, according to reports.

The buybacks come as concerns over China’s slowing economy push Chinese stocks listed in the U.S. to their lowest levels since February 2014, Bloomberg said.

Baidu and JD.com stocks have lost more than a third of their value this year. Alibaba’s shares are currently trading below their public offering price, the report said.

While some Chinese companies are snapping up their stocks to counter effects of share dilution programs, for some, the stock rout offers a way to delist from the U.S. stock markets by going private.

At least 30 Chinese companies -- a record -- have received offers to go private in 2015, Bloomberg said, as companies aim to return to China’s local markets in search of higher valuations.

“Buying at a low market prices saves a lot of costs and the privatization trend for Chinese companies will continue,” Daniel Wang, a fund manager at Rongtong Global Investment Ltd., told Bloomberg.

Baidu, which is sometimes referred to as China's Google, rose about 7 percent to $180.21 after-hours on Thursday.