Shares of Naspers and Prosus experienced a significant surge on Tuesday, driven primarily by the performance of their largest investment, Tencent, which unveiled a new AI platform. The Amsterdam- and JSE-listed companies added more than R89bn to their combined market caps on the day. Tencent, a Chinese internet giant, continues to serve as a key proxy for local investors into global technology developments.
Tencent's shares ended its trading session in Hong Kong 5.02% higher, having risen as much as 7.8% during the day. The company unveiled its advanced Hy-Image-3.5-Preview model, a generative AI tool that stands out for text-to-image and image-to-image creation at resolutions up to 4K. This development is part of Tencent's ongoing investment in AI technology throughout the year.
In June, it was reported that Tencent was developing an AI agent prototype for the WeChat ecosystem, preparing for a public launch. This news sent the company's share price rocketing 10% in a day. WeChat, with 1.4 billion active users, is the world's largest super app and a crucial part of Tencent's business. The company's latest release signals its investment in competitive technology against its major rivals in the Chinese AI race.
The trend of AI-powered agents, known as agentic AI, taking over tasks from people is growing. Examples include agents that work like personal assistants, making bookings, creating meetings, and summarizing notes. Naspers and Prosus added a combined R208bn to their market caps in one trading session in March as Tencent launched an AI agent for workplace tasks called WorkBuddy.
Global tech has been paying close attention to China's efforts in AI, particularly since the "Deepseek moment" in January 2025. Deepseek disrupted the AI industry with a language model created and trained at a fraction of the cost of ChatGPT, while performing just as well. Naspers' investment in Tencent allows South African investors to benefit from China's push to become a dominant player in the global AI race.
Naspers shares closed 4.59% firmer, while Prosus rose by a similar margin. The companies are now worth a combined R2.1-trillion. Naspers' management has been trying to unlock value from its vast portfolio of businesses, which are not fully reflected in the Prosus share price. The value of units such as PayU, iFood, Delivery Hero, and Swiggy is dwarfed by the group's stake in Tencent.
To counter this, Naspers has focused on proving the value of its non-Tencent business, achieving its first goal of generating profit in 2024. Under CEO Fabricio Bloisi, the group has been investing in its own AI capabilities, releasing its own platform called ToqanClaw earlier this year. This strategic move aims to highlight the value of Naspers' diverse portfolio beyond its Tencent investment.
Key points
- Tencent's new AI platform, Hy-Image-3.5-Preview, is a generative AI tool for text-to-image and image-to-image creation at resolutions up to 4K.
- Naspers and Prosus added more than R89bn to their combined market caps on the day Tencent unveiled its new AI platform.
- The surge in Naspers and Prosus shares allows South African investors to benefit from China's push to become a dominant player in the global AI race through Tencent.
