Shares of Chinese social media and gaming giant Tencent surged on Monday, giving it a market value greater than the combined market value of China's six largest state-owned banks.
At press time, Tencent rose 8.83 percent to HK$752 in Hong Kong, hitting another record high. Its total market capitalization is HK$7.22 trillion, which translates to about 6 trillion yuan.
For comparison, the combined market capitalization of China's six largest state-owned banks - Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China China, Postal Savings Bank of China, and Bank of Communications of China - is lower than Tencent's at 5.69 trillion yuan.
Earlier today, Citi issued a report saying it maintained a Buy rating on Tencent and raised its price target by 19% to HK$876 from HK$734.
Citi said it is bullish on WeChat's prospects for continued revenue growth, increasing global gaming market share, and growth in its enterprise customer business.
In another previous report, Citi mentioned that the WeChat mini-program has reached 400 million daily active users (DAU), up 25% compared to the same period last year.
The report predicts that the WeChat mini-program will see further improvements in terms of presence, operations, data analytics, operational support, and credit improvement in 2021.
Citi also noted that it is bullish on WeChat's outlook for the next 10 years as it enters its 11th year of operation with a growing super-app ecosystem and profits from multiple dimensions such as search, transactions, and video social networking.
Tencent achieved revenue of RMB125.447 billion in the third quarter of last year, up 29% year-over-year, and net profit of RMB38.542 billion in the quarter, up 89% year-over-year, beating market expectations.
Tencent has yet to announce its Q4 and full-year results, but according to a Morgan Stanley research report, Tencent Holdings is expected to report revenue of RMB129.2 billion in Q4 last year, up 22% year-over-year.
