Gaming growth pushes Tencent revenue to beat forecasts

The Shenzhen-based firm is a major player in the global gaming industry, and has sizeable operations in other fields including cloud computing, entertainment and artificial intelligence.

This year, the company has benefited from a prolonged period of investor confidence in AI, driving its shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange to nearly double since January.

The latest strong results come as global investors grow increasingly worried about a bubble in the AI sector though, following months of frenzied enthusiasm.

During the three-month period that ended on September 30, the firm reported revenue of 192.9 billion yuan ($27.2 billion), a statement posted on the Hong Kong stock exchange website showed.

Up 15 percent year-on-year, the figure represented the fourth straight quarter of double-digit revenue growth, and also beat a Bloomberg forecast of nearly 189 billion yuan.

The results showed cash generation in the third quarter was aided by a 15 percent year-on-year increase in its domestic games revenue.

Tencent's international games business -- smaller than its domestic business -- surged 43 percent year-on-year, the results showed.

The firm said in the statement that the results reflect "healthy trends across games, marketing services, and fintech and business services".

Tencent has been seeking in recent years to integrate AI functions into WeChat, the multifunctional app it operates that is widely used in China.

"Our strategic investments in AI are benefitting us in business areas such as ad targeting and game engagement," it said, noting "encouraging results" in efforts to promote use of its Yuanbao AI chatbot in WeChat.

The statement also showed net profit during the third quarter jumped 19 percent year-on-year, higher than forecasted by Bloomberg.