SONG Jianan

Tencent Holdings reported a strong set of results on Thursday, with profit and revenue both accelerating in the third quarter of 2025. The company posted revenue of 192.87 billion yuan, up 15% year on year, while net profit rose 19% to 63.13 billion yuan. All three core businesses—value-added services, online marketing, and fintech and business services—recorded double-digit revenue growth.

The company also continued to step up investment in artificial intelligence. R&D spending reached an all-time high of 22.82 billion yuan during the quarter.

Value-added services revenue climbed 16% to 95.9 billion yuan. Domestic games rose 15% to 42.8 billion yuan, supported by new launches such as Delta Force and steady demand for evergreen titles including Honor of Kings and Game for Peace. Riot Games’ Valorant extending from PC to mobile also contributed.

Tencent's international games business crossed a major milestone, surpassing 20 billion yuan in a single quarter for the first time to reach 20.8 billion yuan—up 43% year on year. The company cited steady performance from Supercell titles, contributions from newly acquired studios, and solid sales of the new PC and console title Dying Light: The Beast. Social network revenue rose 5% to 32.3 billion yuan, driven by stronger Video Accounts live-streaming, paid music subscriptions, and mini-game platform fees.

Online marketing revenue increased 21% to 36.2 billion yuan, aided by higher ad impressions. Tencent said AI-driven targeting helped lift eCPM, boosting demand across major advertiser categories.

Fintech and business services rose 10% to 58.2 billion yuan, a slower pace than the other segments. Fintech growth benefited from increased commercial payments and consumer-lending services, while business services grew by double-digit percentages, driven by rising demand for AI-related cloud offerings and higher merchant service fees as Weixin Stores expanded transaction volume.

R&D spending jumped 28% year on year. Chairman and CEO Pony Ma said the company's AI investments enhanced precision ad targeting and game engagement while improving efficiency in programming, game development and video production.

In September, Tencent open-sourced its Hunyuan Image 3.0 model. The company said its ecosystem now includes 3,500 image, video-generation and other derivative models, with downloads of its 3D-series models exceeding three million.

Operating cash flow in the quarter was 85.3 billion yuan, and free cash flow reached 58.5 billion yuan, providing ample room for continued investment.

Weixin and WeChat combined monthly active users edged up 2% to 1.414 billion. QQ's mobile MAUs fell 8% to 517 million, reflecting shifting user demographics and younger users' preference for short-video platforms and games. Paid subscription services held steady at 265 million.

Tencent had 115,076 employees as of September 30, up from 108,823 a year earlier. Total compensation expenses rose to 32.4 billion yuan from 29.6 billion yuan.