[ET Net News Agency, 18 January 2021] Morgan Stanley raised its target price for
Tencent Holdings (00700) to HK$720 from HK$650 and maintained its "overweight" rating.
The research house forecast 4Q revenue at Rmb129.2bn (+22% YoY, +3% QoQ), reflecting
mobile game and FinTech normalization, partially offset by resilience in ads amid demand
recovery. It estimated 4Q non-IFRS OP at Rmb37.4bn (+23% YoY, -2% QoQ) on milder
high-margin gaming revenue and G&A uptick.
On the positive side, Morgan sees healthy momentum from new game launches such as
"Moonlight Blade", "Wild Rift", and "CoD Mobile", with limited cannibalization to legacy
titles thus far.
For FinTech & Business Services (FBS), Morgan sees revenue at Rmb37.9bn (+27% YoY), with
FinTech rising 23% YoY to reflect a normalization of volume in 2Q 2020 and revenue in 3Q
2020. It expects FinTech revenue to rise 25% YoY in 2021 to reflect Tencent's prudent
approach amid regulatory concerns. (KL)