Tim Culpan, Columnist

China Makes WeChat’s 1 Billion Users a Tempting Target for Tencent

With growth from games slowing, tapping the social network looks increasingly attractive.

Instant messaging to the rescue?

Photographer: Giulia Marchi/Bloomberg
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Pony Ma has been very patient. Unfortunately for him, investors haven’t, and earnings released late Wednesday will give them little reason to hold their breath.

Net income and revenue at his Tencent Holdings Ltd. both missed estimates. Concerns that rising costs would squeeze margins have helped to wipe about $150 billion off the Chinese goliath’s market value since January.