Tencent has blown past second-quarter revenue expectations, fueled by blockbuster gaming sales and aggressive AI expansion across its platforms.
Tencent Gaming Revenue Surges at Home and Abroad
For the three months ending June, Tencent posted revenue of 184.5 billion yuan ($25.7 billion), beating analyst estimates of 178.5 billion yuan. Gaming played a huge role in that win, with domestic revenue jumping 17% to 40.4 billion yuan and overseas gaming revenue soaring 35% to 18.8 billion yuan.
Hits like Honor of Kings and Dungeon & Fighter Mobile continue to anchor the company’s gaming dominance, pulling in both casual players and competitive fans worldwide.
Sony sues Tencent over a Horizon Zero Dawn copy, accusing the publisher of lifting designs and mechanics from its PlayStation hit.
AI Push Boosts Tencent’s Ad Business
Marketing services revenue rose 20% year-on-year to 35.8 billion yuan, supported by AI-driven ad targeting. The tech has sharpened audience reach, giving brands better placement and higher returns.
Net profit came in at 55.6 billion yuan, topping forecasts of 52.3 billion yuan, underscoring how AI is impacting more than just game development.
Capital Spending Shifts Toward AI
Over the past two years, Tencent has funneled an increasing share of its capital expenditure into AI initiatives. Total 2024 capex hit 76.8 billion yuan, and management expects 2025 spending to reach the “low teens” as a percentage of total revenue.
In Q2 alone, capital expenditure more than doubled from last year to 19.1 billion yuan.
Tencent’s AI Portfolio Gets Bigger and Faster
Tencent’s homegrown large language model, Hunyuan, got a speed upgrade in February with the Turbo S release. But the company isn’t betting on in-house tools alone — it has embraced third-party AI as well.
One standout integration is DeepSeek’s tech into WeChat, a platform with over 1 billion monthly active users.
The Apps Leading Tencent’s AI Charge
The company’s AI momentum is anchored by two standout performers:
- Yuanbao, Tencent’s AI assistant, became China’s most-downloaded iPhone app in March
- DeepSeek’s integration helped Tencent overtake even DeepSeek’s own app in popularity
These successes show that Tencent’s AI strategy is just as much about reach as it is about capability.
Growth That’s Not Slowing Anytime Soon
Between its gaming dominance and AI acceleration, Tencent is stacking revenue streams that feed off each other. If this quarter’s performance is a sign of things to come, the next earnings call might need a bigger scoreboard.
