More bad news for Tencent: the Chinese Internet giant has lost its spot as one of the world’s 10 biggest companies.
After shedding over US$200-billion in market value this year, more than any other company worldwide, Tencent has been replaced by Exxon Mobil in the top of the rankings based on market capitalisation. When its share price hit a record high in January, the Shenzhen-based company was in the top five along with Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon.com.
Tencent returned more than 67 000% from its initial public offering through January, but then turned south this year on a run of bad news including a rare drop in profit and a regulatory crackdown on gaming in China. Tencent has tumbled nearly 40% in Hong Kong since 23 January, and fell for a ninth straight day on Wednesday, on track for its worst ever run. It was down 0.9% as of 1.42pm.
Mitchell Green, Santa Barbara-based founding partner of Lead Edge Capital which manages $1.5-billion of assets, said the selloff could continue as investors panic.
Tencent’s market cap is now $353-billion, while Exxon Mobil’s is $365-billion. — Reported by Kana Nishizawa and Sofia Horta e Costa, with assistance from Lulu Yilun Chen, (c) 2018 Bloomberg LP