Tencent revenue jumps 15% to $25.7B as AI investments pay off

Tencent, China’s largest tech conglomerate, reported a 15% jump in second-quarter revenue to $25.7 billion, driven by strong gaming performance and strategic AI investments across its platform. The company’s capital expenditures surged 119% as it doubled down on AI upgrades for advertising, gaming, and its WeChat social media service, positioning itself to capitalize on the growing intersection of entertainment and artificial intelligence.

Key financial highlights: Tencent’s Q2 2025 results exceeded expectations across multiple metrics.

• Revenue reached 184.504 billion Chinese yuan ($25.7 billion), up from 161.117 billion yuan in the same period last year.
• Operating profit climbed to 63.052 billion yuan, compared to 57.313 billion yuan in Q2 2024.
• Capital expenditures jumped 119% to 19.1 billion yuan as the company invested heavily in AI infrastructure.

Gaming division drives growth: Domestic games revenue surged 17% year-over-year to 40.4 billion yuan, powered by both new releases and established franchises.

• The newly-released “Delta Force” game contributed significantly to quarterly performance.
• Evergreen titles including “Honor of Kings,” “VALORANT,” and “Peacekeeper Elite” maintained strong user engagement and revenue generation.

AI investment strategy: Tencent is systematically integrating artificial intelligence across its core business units to enhance user experience and operational efficiency.

• The company upgraded AI capabilities for its advertising platform, gaming business, and Weixin (WeChat) social media service.
• Tencent is developing more AI use cases within Weixin while driving adoption of its AI-native app Yuanbao.
• The tech giant continues upgrading its HunYuan foundation models to support enterprise and consumer applications.

What they’re saying: CEO Ma Huateng emphasized the dual benefit of AI investments during the earnings call.

• “During the second quarter of 2025, we delivered double-digit revenue and non-IFRS operating profit growth on a year-on-year basis, as we invested in, and also benefitted from, utilising AI,” Huateng said.
• “We are striving to bring further benefits of AI to consumers and enterprises through powering more use cases within Weixin, driving usage of our AI native app Yuanbao, and upgrading the capabilities of our HunYuan foundation models,” he added.