Tencent Q4 Revenue Surges, Fueled By Gaming And Messaging
Strong growth in revenue from online games and social network services in China helped Tencent Holdings ( TCEHY ) deliver stronger than expected revenue when it reported fourth quarter earnings Thursday morning. Tencent reported revenue of $4.7 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $4.3 billion and up 45% year over year in local currency. Profit fell short as Tencent continues to aggressively invest in video and mobile. Tencent reported earnings per share minus items of RMB0.76, up 21% from a year ago. Equal to 12 cents at the current exchange rate, EPS missed the consensus estimate by a penny. Tencent is among China’s Internet leaders along with e-commerce king Alibaba ( BABA ) and search leader Baidu ( BIDU ). Other China Internet leaders include e-commerce company JD.com ( JD ) and gaming company NetEase ( NTES ). Tencent shares traded over the counter in the U.S., were up 2.5%, near 20, in morning trading in the stock market today . Its primary stock listing is in Hong Kong, where it is a component of the blue-chip Hang Seng index. Revenue from online games, its largest revenue source, rose 33% to $2.46 billion, primarily driven by growth from smartphone games. The result was helped by an expanded game portfolio as well as higher revenue from PC games, thanks to popular titles and new games launched in 2015. Revenue from its social network and messaging services rose 37% to $1.1 billion. The increase was mainly driven by growth in subscription revenue as well as higher revenue from virtual item sales.