How They Make Money

How They Make Money

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How They Make Money
How They Make Money
๐Ÿ“Š PRO: This Week in Visuals

๐Ÿ“Š PRO: This Week in Visuals

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App Economy Insights
Aug 16, 2025
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How They Make Money
How They Make Money
๐Ÿ“Š PRO: This Week in Visuals
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Welcome to the Saturday PRO edition of How They Make Money.

Over 200,000 subscribers turn to us for business and investment insights.

In case you missed it:

  • ๐Ÿง  GPT-5: Whoโ€™s Impacted?

  • ๐Ÿ“† Latest earnings: Nintendo, Sea, Circle, On, Monday


Premium subscribers get:

  • ๐Ÿ“Š Monthly reports: 200+ companies visualized.

  • ๐Ÿ“ฉ Tuesday articles: Exclusive deep dives and insights.

  • ๐Ÿ“š Access to our archive: Hundreds of business breakdowns.

PRO subscribers get everything PLUS:

  • ๐Ÿ“ฉ Saturday PRO reports: Timely insights on the latest earnings.


Today at a glance:

  1. ๐Ÿ“ฑ Tencent: AI-Powered Gains

  2. ๐ŸŒ Cisco: AI Orders Double Target

  3. โš™๏ธ Applied Materials: China Digests

  4. ๐ŸŽฎ NetEase: Non-Gaming Mixed

  5. ๐Ÿฆ Nu: Deeper Wallet Share

  6. ๐Ÿšš JD.com: Growth Acceleration

  7. ๐Ÿ’ณ Adyen: Mid-Term Targets Intact

  8. โšก๏ธ Celsius: Alani Supercharge

  9. ๐Ÿ›๏ธ Global-e: Profitable Again

  10. ๐ŸŒŽ dLocal: Broad-Based Surge


1. ๐Ÿ“ฑ Tencent: AI-Powered Gains

Tencentโ€™s Q2 revenue climbed 15% Y/Y to RMB 184.5 billion (~$25.7 billion), driven by gaming (+17% domestic, +35% international) and marketing services (+20%), boosted by AI-enhanced ad targeting. New hits like Delta Force and Dune: Awakening joined evergreen titles Honor of Kings and Peacekeeper Elite in fueling growth.

Net profit rose 17% to RMB 56 billion, beating expectations despite a 119% jump in capex to RMB 19.1B ($2.7 billion) for AI upgrades across gaming, advertising, and Weixin/WeChat.

Management stressed โ€œspending in the right tempoโ€ on AI, focusing on integrating its Hunyuan model into core products rather than overspending on chips or headcount. Weixin/WeChatโ€™s 1.4 billion+ users continue to anchor monetization via search, video feeds, and mini-programs, while Tencent Cloud is pushing AI services into Europe.

With Valorant Mobile and other major titles in the pipeline, Tencent is balancing aggressive AI-driven growth while maintaining margin discipline.


2. ๐ŸŒ Cisco: AI Orders Double Target

Cisco closed FY25 (ending in July) with Q4 revenue up 8% Y/Y to $14.7 billion ($50 million beat) and adjusted EPS of $0.99 ($0.01 beat). AI infrastructure orders hit $800 million in the quarter, bringing FY25 total to $2 billionโ€”more than double its original goal. Product revenue rose 10% to $10.9 billion, with networking at $7.6 billion, while gross margin edged up to 66%.

Recurring revenue momentum continued, with security growth boosted by Splunk and SASE. Federal business is set to return to growth in FY26, supported by partnerships like the UAEโ€™s Stargate project and Saudi AI firm Humain.

Cisco guided FY26 revenue to $59โ€“$60 billion (vs. $56.6 billion in FY25) and adjusted EPS to $4.00โ€“$4.06 (vs. $3.81 in FY25), reflecting steady AI momentum but a measured outlook amid rising competition from Broadcom and HPE.


3. โš™๏ธ Applied Materials: China Digests

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