Chinese tech giant Tencent delivered stronger-than-expected third-quarter results, posting revenue of ¥192.9 billion ($27.08B) as artificial intelligence investments and gaming momentum drove growth across its core businesses.
The 15% year-on-year revenue jump outpaced analyst expectations, signaling that China’s largest social media and gaming company is successfully monetizing AI while maintaining dominance in gaming.
Strong performances from new titles like Delta Force and resilient advertising growth from video accounts pushed Tencent past forecasts.
The earnings reaffirm investor confidence in the company’s ability to navigate competition while expanding into emerging opportunities like cloud services and fintech.
Tencent earnings: Gaming and AI unlock new revenue frontiers
Tencent’s gaming division proved its staying power this quarter with domestic games revenue jumping 15% year-on-year.
New game launches like Delta Force contributed meaningfully, but the real story was how evergreen titles: Honor of Kings, Peacekeeper Elite, and Valorant, continued printing money through platform monetization.
Internationally, game revenue surged even faster at 43%, driven by Supercell’s franchises and PUBG MOBILE.
What’s particularly noteworthy is how AI is quietly revolutionizing gaming creation itself.
Management signaled they’re using generative AI to accelerate content development, meaning faster game launches and faster revenue recognition.
The company has also integrated AI deep into marketing services revenue, which grew 20% in the previous quarter.
AI-powered ad targeting is driving higher click-through rates and more precise audience matching, with executives noting this could yield a potential 10% lift across their entire ¥100 billion advertising business.
Cloud services hit inflection point as infrastructure demand explodes
One of the most interesting storylines tucked inside Tencent’s results is what’s happening in its cloud business.
The fintech and enterprise services unit, where cloud lives, is finally showing signs of hitting a real inflection point.
Demand for AI infrastructure is exploding. GPU rentals are climbing fast, API token usage is taking off, and customers are clearly scrambling to build AI apps.
That surge is pushing cloud revenue well above what Tencent saw in the first half of the year.
Tencent’s new HunYuan 3D 3.0 model plays into this, too. It’s a major upgrade for generating professional 3D content and gives Tencent a real edge in high-end AI services.
And it matters, because cloud is one of the few bright spots for Chinese tech investors who’ve been nervous about brutal price wars in advertising and e-commerce.
Management says this momentum should continue, setting the cloud up to be a meaningful growth driver beyond just this quarter.
Fintech is holding its own as well.
Tencent has been quietly expanding its payments and financial services footprint, with things like Tenpay Global Checkout in Singapore, a new integration that brings WeChat Pay to Alibaba’s Taobao, and steady pushes into wealth management and micro-lending.
Taken together, it’s clear Tencent isn’t just leaning on gaming and ads anymore. It’s building multiple, durable revenue engines.
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