Tencent poised to rub shoulders with Apple and Facebook as China’s first entrant to elite US$500 billion tech club

Internet giant closes in on massive market valuation on the back of its huge video games revenue, advertising and social media businesses

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WeChat mascots displayed inside Tencent’s office at the Creativity Industry Zone in Guangzhou. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:30pm, 14 Nov 2017Updated: 9:03am, 15 Nov 2017

Tencent Holdings is within touching distance of becoming the first Chinese technology company to top a US$500 billion in market value, joining an elite club led by hi-tech industry stalwarts Apple, Alphabet, Facebook and Microsoft.

The video games-to-social media conglomerate, expected to report its third-quarter financial results after the market closes in Hong Kong on Wednesday, is expected to post its second-largest quarterly profit on record.

Buoyed by the popularity of its smartphone games, led by flagship title Honour of Kings, and efforts to generate more advertising revenue from its WeChat social messaging app, Shenzhen-based Tencent has seen its share price double this year to value the company at US$473 billion.

Tencent has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of mainland China’s initiatives to boost the role of technology in its US$11 trillion economy.

The company recently raked in more gains from the initial public offering of its online publishing unit China Literature, the share price of which doubled in intraday trading on its trading debut in Hong Kong last week.

Reaching US$500 billion in market value “would be a recognition of how Tencent has consistently executed on its strategy, creating businesses with sustainable growth”, said Karen Chan, an equity analyst at investment bank Jefferies.