ISTANBUL

Technology companies occupy the top four spots among Asia’s most valuable firms this year, as the sector navigates trade tensions and tariff-driven volatility heading into the final quarter.

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) remains the region’s clear leader with a market capitalization of $1.4 trillion, ranking as the world’s 10th most valuable company since January.

The Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent follows with a valuation of $771.7 billion, making it China’s most valuable company and the 15th globally.

The e-commerce giant Alibaba is third in Asia at $428.9 billion, while South Korea’s Samsung sits fourth with $388.87 billion.

Financial institutions dominate the rest of the top 10. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) ranks fifth, followed by Agricultural Bank of China at $319.6 billion. The Chinese battery maker CATL is seventh with $259.8 billion, ahead of Japanese automaker Toyota at $258.2 billion. The Chinese spirits producer Kweichow Moutai is ninth with $254 billion, while China Construction Bank rounds out the list at $252.8 billion.

Alibaba has been the strongest performer among Asia’s top companies this year, with its shares climbing 114.8% on the back of the release of its open-source artificial intelligence model Qwen3 and a dominant 53% weight in the Hang Seng Index in September.

Tencent’s stock rose 59%, thanks to new 5G and AI initiatives and the launch of a palm-scan payment method.

Samsung gained 57.7%, CATL 51.1%, Agricultural Bank of China 24.9%, TSMC 21.4%, and ICBC 10.1%. By contrast, Toyota fell 9.4%, Kweichow Moutai declined 5.3% and China Construction Bank slipped 2.1%.

The latest figures highlight Asia’s technology strength, while showing the continued weight of state-backed financial institutions as markets brace for a volatile final quarter of the year.