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Tencent grabs Facebook’s social media crown with rally that adds US$207 billion to market value this year

  • Chinese online games giant is now the world’s seventh most valuable company ahead of Facebook
  • Jefferies analyst Thomas Chong expects Tencent shares to climb up to HK$651 in the next 12 months; shares are up 45 per cent year to date

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Pony Ma Huateng, chairman and CEO of Tencent Holdings, is China’s richest man. Photo: AP Photo
Deb Price
Tencent Holdings blasted past Facebook to become the world’s most valuable social media network operator by market capitalisation on Tuesday. It now also ranks as the seventh largest company globally.
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The Chinese online games and WeChat giant soared 4.5 per cent to HK$543.50, taking its market capitalisation to just under HK$5.2 trillion (US$670 billion), compared to the American rival’s market value of US$657.8 billion.

Tencent has rallied about 45 per cent this year in Hong Kong, adding HK$1.6 trillion in value to investors. Facebook gained about 14 per cent in New York during the same time.

Just over two weeks ago, Alibaba, the e-commerce behemoth and owner of the South China Morning Post, ousted Facebook as the world’s sixth most valuable company. Alibaba’s market capitalisation is about US$677.4 billion.
American technology and internet companies have long been the world’s leaders. China’s growing innovation and clout in everything from digital payments and 5G development to online games and e-commerce are part of the raft of tensions rising between Washington and Beijing. It may have prompted Tencent into making an offer to privatise its search engine unit Sogou from the US market.
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“With rising China GDP growth, we will see more and more Chinese companies entering the top 10 or top 100 companies,” said Kenny Wen, wealth management strategist at Everbright Sun Hung Kai. “This long-term trend will continue in the foreseeable future. However, the pandemic and worsening China-US relationship may make the situation complicated.”

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What makes Tencent such a tech goliath?

What makes Tencent such a tech goliath?
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