tencent The Chinese tech giant on Wednesday reported full-year earnings that beat analysts’ expectations as it continues to ramp up investments in AI.
Tencent’s full year 2025 earnings are as follows:
Sales: Sales were 751.8 billion Chinese yuan ($109 billion), higher than analysts’ expectations of 750.7 billion yuan, according to data compiled by LSEG.
“We maintained a healthy growth rate in 2025 as our AI capabilities improved ad targeting and increased gaming engagement, while our cloud business delivered revenue and profit growth and significant profits,” Tencent Chairman and CEO Ma Huateng said in a statement.
“Our resilient, cash-generating core business provides the resources to fund our growing investments in AI, including hiring top AI talent and upgrading our AI infrastructure.”
Tencent will spend 18 billion Chinese yuan on AI products in 2025 and plans to double that amount this year, the company said in a conference call with media.
Analysts said in a note shortly after the results were released that quarterly results were “strong” and broadly in line with Citi’s expectations.
A positive surprise was a 22% acceleration in business services revenue growth in the fourth quarter, supported by higher cloud revenues and higher e-commerce technology fees across domestic and international markets, including AI-related services, Citi analysts said.
game boost
Domestic gaming revenue rose 18% year-on-year to CNY164.2 billion, which Tencent said was supported by the “solid” performance of recently released “Delta Force” and Evergreen Games.
The company, owner of Chinese social media platform WeChat, said its international gaming revenue exceeded $10 billion for the first time at 77.4 billion Chinese yuan, while revenue from social networks rose 5% to 127.7 billion yuan.
Fintech and business services revenue increased 8% year-on-year to 229.4 billion yuan.
Sales in the fourth quarter of 2025 increased by 13% compared to the same period in 2024, reaching 194.4 billion yuan, higher than analysts’ expectations of 193.5 billion yuan.
Although much of Tencent’s revenue comes from gaming, the company is looking to diversify by expanding into other areas, including cloud computing. The company announced that it will expand its cloud computing division to Europe in 2025.
The head of Tencent’s cloud computing group told CNBC in January that the company plans to expand its data center footprint in the Middle East. CNBC asked the company whether its plans had changed in light of the Iran war.
—CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.
