Market analysis: Tencent lowers its 2025 capital expenditure guidance due to AI chip shortage.

Tencent's management said after the company's third-quarter performance announcement that due to a shortage of AI chips, the company has lowered its capital expenditure guidance for 2025. The tech giant's capital expenditure in the third quarter decreased by more than 20% year-on-year and by over 30% quarter-on-quarter. Management stated that its capital expenditure for 2025 will be lower than the previously announced guidance in the low teens as a percentage of revenue, but will still be higher than the capital expenditure for 2024. Tencent President Liu Chiping said that this adjustment does not reflect a change in Tencent's AI strategy and attributed it to "changes in the supply of AI chips." He added that if the supply of AI chips is not restricted, Tencent's cloud business revenue could grow even faster. Citigroup analysts believe that Tencent's inability to purchase AI chips has not slowed down its investment in upgrading its basic model architecture and developing intelligent AI capabilities.