China’s Tencent Overtakes Facebook in Market Value

China’s social media and video game giant Tencent overtook Facebook in market value on Tuesday as investors sent the company soaring to the top five list of the world’s biggest firms.

Tencent’s shares, traded in Hong Kong, have doubled in value this year as the tech company’s earnings have repeatedly outmatched analysts’ expectations, AFP reported.

A second stock connection with mainland China which opened late last year has allowed even more money to flow onto the semi-autonomous city’s exchange.

By Tuesday afternoon Tencent’s market capitalization had reached HK$4.15 trillion ($531 billion), surpassing the US social network’s $519 billion. The market movement made China’s Tencent one of the world’s top five most valuable companies, although it is still far short of leader Apple which is currently valued at $873 billion.

Tencent has nearly one billion users on its popular WeChat phone platform, where people can chat, post photos, play games, transfer money and pay for a variety of services in China.

The shares of the Hong Kong-listed internet giant, closed at HK$420 ($53.76) on Monday, bringing its market value to HK$3.99 trillion ($510.7 billion). Tencent’s publishing-focused arm was spun off and listed in Hong Kong earlier this year.

Tencent is now closing in on the likes of Facebook and Amazon. Top of the pole is Apple, with pundits predicting the iPhone maker could be the first to break the $1 trillion mark in the months ahead.

Tencent’s market cap also now exceeds e-commerce giant Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group Holding at $474.15 billion with Baidu far behind at $82.97 billion. It brings the personal wealth of Tencent founder and chief executive Ma Huateng—also known as Pony Ma and no relation—close to $47 billion.

Tencent’s stock has shot up 121.4% this year and is up 11.251% since the company went public in 2004 at HK$3.70 a share. Analysts say it can go further.

“Some of this year’s best performers are worth holding as long-term bulls,” said Wang Menghai, a Shanghai-based money manager at Fullgoal Fund Management Co told Bloomberg. “It would be a wrong decision to sell it just for some short-term gain.”

CNBC credits Tencent’s meteoric rise to its continued revenue growth, massive user base and investments into new areas. Last week, the Chinese company reported a 69% year-on-year rise in net profit for the third quarter to 18 billion yuan ($2.71 billion), beating market forecasts.