Tencent shares rise, breaks $500 billion and surpasses Facebook valuation

Chinese tech giant Tencent Monday, became the first Chinese tech company to surpass the $500 billion valuation mark, by share price. Then, Tuesday, the business also surpassed Facebook’s valuation.

The week has started on a positive note for Tencent and there are expectations the good news could continue.

Tencent shares closed 2.38% higher to end the Asian trading session at HK$430.00. The share price hit a high of just over HK$439 during trading however. That pushed its market cap up to $534.5 billion in US dollars. At the close of US trading Monday, Facebook’s market cap was $519.4 billion

Tencent in the ascendancy

The Tencent share price has risen some 127% year-to-date. And while there has been a pretty steady rise for much of the year, more recently, the pace of that increase has accelerated.

The Chinese tech business isn’t particularly well known outside of China. However, its stable of social media, gaming and news, is proving popular in its home country.

It is interested in becoming a more popular brand outside of China. It has shown that with its recent significant investments in Tesla and Snap. It has also invested in more local Asian-based start-ups, too.

All of this helped the company beat third-quarter earnings estimates and impress analysts and investors alike. And, its likely more good news isn’t far away.

Malaysia market

Tencent’s WeChat social media service could soon be available in Malaysia. When it happens, it will mark the first foreign country to accept the Chinese tech export.

According to a Reuters report, Tencent is close to securing an e-payment license in Malaysia. Once that is finalised it will then open the door for the WeChat network to launch across Malaysia in 2018.

“Malaysia is actually quite large in the sense that we have 20 million WeChat users, huge potential, and the market is quite warm towards internet products from China,” Tencent’s senior vice president S.Y. Lau told Reuters in an interview.