Beating out analysts’ estimates, Tencent reported a 25% year-over-year increase in revenue for the first quarter of 2021 on Thursday. Similarly the 65% growth in profit, boosted by around $3 billion of gains from portfolio investments, also exceeded expectations, reported the Wall Street Journal.
Starting at unusually high rates due to the boost from the pandemic, smartphone game revenue growth has slowed, but still managed to increase 19% year-over-year.
Tencent’s fintech and business services division, which includes its cloud business, grew 47% compared to the same quarter last year, partly due to including revenue from Bitauto, a newly acquired car website.