📊 PRO: This Week in Visuals
TCEHY, BABA, CSCO, AMAT, SHOP, SPOT, NU, SE, JD, NTES, FLUT, DDOG, LYV, GRAB, ONON, LNVGY, CYBR, CART, STNE, DLO, SEMR, OLO
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Today at a glance:
🎮 Tencent: Gaming Fuels Growth
📦 Alibaba: Cloud and AI Bright Spot
🌐 Cisco: AI Momentum and Recovery
⚙️ Applied Materials: AI-fueled Demand
🛍️ Shopify: Growth Acceleration
🎧 Spotify: Margin Expansion
🏦 Nu Holdings: Record Profitability
🚚 JD.com: More Margin Gains
🌊 Sea Limited: Shopee Powers Growth
🎮 NetEase: Resilient Gaming Segment
🏈 Flutter: US Growth & Raised Outlook
🐶 Datadog: Multi-product Adoption
🎤 Live Nation: Superfan-Fueled Growth
🏍️ Grab: Profitability Boost
👟 On: Record Sales Momentum
💻 Lenovo: AI-Driven Momentum
⏹️ CyberArk: Strength in Subscription
🥕 Instacart: Deeper Integration
💳 StoneCo: Solid Momentum
🌎 dLocal: Record TPV, Lower Margins
☄️ Semrush: Profitable Growth
🍽️ Olo: Platform Expansion
1. 🎮 Tencent: Gaming Fuels Growth
Tencent's Q3 revenue grew 8% to 167.2 billion yuan ($23.2 billion), led by a 13% rebound in gaming revenue (14% for domestic and 9% for international games). Black Myth: Wukong, in which Tencent has an equity stake, was a massive hit, selling over 20 million copies. Blockbuster titles like DnF Mobile and Delta Force drove growth, along with robust performances from PUBG MOBILE and Honour of Kings. Marketing services (formerly online advertising) grew 17%, powered by demand for WeChat's video accounts and mini-program features. Monthly active users on WeChat/Weixin rose 3% to 1.38 billion.
Profit surged 47% to 54 billion yuan ($7.6 billion), beating estimates, though fintech and cloud services posted modest 2% growth amid weak consumer spending. Tencent highlighted early benefits from AI integration in marketing and operations but noted slower AI adoption in China's cloud market compared to the US. Management remains optimistic about long-term growth, underpinned by gaming, advertising momentum, and investments in evergreen titles.
2. 📦 Alibaba: Cloud and AI Bright Spot
Alibaba's September quarter (Q2 FY25) saw revenue grow by 5% to $33.7 billion ($0.5 billion beat). Adjusted earnings beat expectations, driven by equity investments and a steady operating margin. The cloud segment stood out, accelerating to 7% growth, fueled by triple-digit AI product growth and rising public cloud adoption.
However, the core Taobao and Tmall business saw a modest 1% revenue increase, reflecting continued competition and cautious consumer spending. Management remains optimistic about its AI-driven initiatives and improving monetization of its e-commerce platforms, which gained momentum during the Singles’ Day Festival. Despite these positives, ongoing macroeconomic headwinds and stiff competition from JD.com and PDD continue to pressure growth.