[ET Net News Agency, 21 May 2021] J.P. Morgan cut its target price for Tencent Holdings
(00700) to HK$750 from HK$800 and maintained its "overweight" rating.
As Tencent steps up investment in business services, gaming and short video, the
research house expects its 2021 adjusted net profit growth to slow down to 12%.
While these investments would lead to more structural changes to its cost structure than
e-commerce operators as Tencent's investment will be mostly in headcount and, to a lesser
extent, technology infrastructure, JP Morgan expects its net profit growth to recover to
23% in 2022 on (1) full-year revenue contribution from key titles launched in 2021, and
(2) investment returns from technology, business service deployment capability and
video-based ads inventory. (KL)