Tencent on Thursday posted a 15% year-on-year revenue increase as AI boosted the Chinese tech giant’s performance in ad targeting and gaming.
According to the financial results released on Thursday, Tencent’s results for the third quarter of 2025 are as follows:
Sales: Sales were CNY 192.9 billion ($27.12 billion), higher than analysts’ expectations of CNY 189.2 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. Operating profit: 63.6 billion yuan, compared to the expected 58.01 billion yuan.
Gaming, marketing and social media services, which make up Tencent’s core business, collected 95.9 billion Chinese yuan, a 16% year-on-year growth.
Domestic gaming venues grew 15% over the same period, driven by the recent releases of Delta Force and VALORANT MOBILE, the latter being the “most successful mobile game launch in China so far this year,” Tencent said.
The international gaming business, the fastest growing sector in recent years, increased by 43% year-on-year to CNY 20.8 billion. The company attributed this growth to increased revenue from Clash Royale and Dying Light: The Beast, as well as Supercell games and acquisitions.
Tencent ramped up its AI efforts earlier this year and increased capital spending as it looks to expand its cloud computing services in Europe to compete with market leaders Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure.
The Shenzhen-based company pointed to increased revenue from cloud services, including increased demand for AI-related services.
CEO Ma Huateng said, “Our strategic investments in AI are paying dividends not only in business areas such as ad targeting and gaming engagement, but also in efficiency-enhancing areas such as coding, gaming and video production.”
The company has updated its foundational AI model, HunYuan, with improved capabilities in coding, math, and science. The technology company also uses DeepSeek in some of its products. Tencent stock has risen 56.7% since the beginning of the year.
The WeChat owner’s financial and business services increased by 10% year-on-year to CNY 58.2 billion in the third quarter of 2025, due to an increase in commercial payments and consumer loans and payments. Tencent recently launched its payment platform TenPay Global Checkout, allowing some Weixin merchants to accept funding from outside mainland China.
Capital investment, mainly investment in IT infrastructure, slowed in the third quarter, totaling 13 billion Chinese yuan.
