Tencent deemed the world's most disappointing stock

[HONG KONG] For the most disappointing stock trade in the world this year, step forward Tencent Holdings Ltd.

Of the 10 companies worth more than US$100 billion that analysts predominantly rate as buy, Tencent has by some distance had the worst 2018, data compiled by Bloomberg shows. The Internet giant has tumbled 22 per cent in Hong Kong, wiping out US$108 billion in value, as the company failed to maintain earnings momentum and a government clampdown clouded the outlook for the games industry.

The reversal has been swift. It was only in January that Tencent reached a record high of HK$474.60, following a 64,000 per cent climb from its 2004 trading debut. Analysts have been reluctant to give up their bullish calls on the stock, which is the biggest on the MSCI Emerging Markets Index with an almost 5 per cent weighting. Their average price target is HK$451.10, implying a 42 per cent rebound over the next 12 months.

* Five equates to a unanimous buy recommendation on a Bloomberg scale.

Other investment disappointments include Belgian brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev NV and South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co, but Chinese companies predominate. Benchmark indices in Hong Kong and Shanghai have slumped this year amid concern about an economic slowdown and a trade war with the US.

BLOOMBERG