2017.08.1700:34:00UTC+00Tencent Shares Surges on Record Quarterly Results

Tencent Holdings shares posted its biggest increase in a year after the internet giant reported record profits on its fastest sales growth in seven years.

The stock surged as much as 5.5 percent, marking the biggest intraday surge since August of 2016. The shares has risen by 70 percent ahead of the quarterly earnings announcement, which showed a 70 percent jump in net income to a record level of 18.2 billion yuan, surpassing analysts' estimates.

Tencent is reaping the benefits from the popularity of its smartphone game Honour of Kings along with other games in the platform that gave it a play base of over 200 million. This helped the mobile division's revenue topped that of desktops for the first time. The ads and finance business on its messaging application WeChat also bolstered confidence that it can eventually become an advertising giant, in ranks with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG and others lifted their price targets on the stock. Goldman hiked its share forecast to HK$369 from HK$346 while Credit Suisse raised it to $HK390 from HK$302.

Meanwhile, sales rose 59 percent to 56.6 billion yuan, also beating expectations.