NTES

NetEase Inc.

DOUBTFUL — SCREEN DOES NOT PASSstock

Is NTES Halal?

Chinese tech — gaming, streaming, and music services.

What You Should Know

NetEase operates gaming platforms, music services, education and e-commerce. Gaming permissibility is debated and the 2025 Form 20-F does not provide a reproducible prohibited-content numerator. The filing reports $31,661.932 million of assets, $912.959 million of short-term loans and $16,105.276 million of revenue; high time deposits and bank-issued investments push the examined liquidity ratio above the total-assets limits.

⚠️ Concerns

  • Gaming permissibility
  • Chinese regulation risk
  • Streaming content control
  • Identifiable cash, time deposits and short-term investments are 74.79% of assets
  • Interest income and investment income were 4.16% of revenue on a conservative proxy

Current quantitative Sharia screen

Based on 20-F figures for the period ended 2025-12-31; calculated 2026-07-14.

USD · millions
Interest-bearing debt / assets
2.88%Within limit
Below 33.333% under FTSE Yasaar

912.959 / 31,661.932

Cash + interest-bearing securities / assets
74.79%Above limit
Below 33.333% under FTSE Yasaar

23,681.313 / 31,661.932

Receivables + cash / assets
23.71%Within limit
Below 50% under FTSE Yasaar

7,508.219 / 31,661.932

Non-compliant income / revenue
4.16%Within limit
No more than 5% under FTSE Yasaar

669.946 / 16,105.276

FTSE Yasaar
v4.6, February 2026
Financial
Fails
Overall
Fails

Liquidity/assets is 74.79%, above the examined 33.333% limit; debt, receivables-plus-cash and the conservative income proxy are below their examined limits, but the financial screen fails on liquidity.

MSCI Islamic (total-assets series)
October 2024 methodology
Financial
Fails
Overall
Fails

Identifiable liquidity/assets is above the examined MSCI total-assets limit; debt and receivables-plus-cash are below their limits.

Malaysia SAC financial ratios
single 5% activity benchmark adopted November 2025
Financial
Fails
Overall
Fails

Identifiable liquidity/assets is above the examined Malaysia 33% limit; this is not an official SAC classification.

Market-cap denominator methods
MSCI M-Series, S&P and Dow Jones methods differ
Financial
Not calculated
Overall
Not calculated

A properly licensed and reproducible historical market-cap series is not stored.

Business-activity disclosure

NetEase operates online games, music streaming, education, e-commerce and related internet services. Gaming and some content are subject to scholarly and user-level review; the business screen is not resolved by a single sector label.

Limitation: The 20-F reports broad operating segments and does not isolate revenue from prohibited game mechanics, music or content categories, advertising, or other screened uses.

Purification

The conservative interest-and-investment-income proxy is 4.16% of revenue and passes the examined FTSE income limit, but screened operating revenue remains incomplete; this is not a complete fixed purification prescription.

Inputs, assumptions and primary sources
  • Amounts are USD millions from NetEase's audited 2025 Form 20-F.
  • Debt includes $912.959 million of short-term loans; no long-term loan balance was outstanding at December 31, 2025 and operating leases are excluded.
  • Interest-bearing securities include $13,675.534 million of current and non-current time deposits and $3,260.858 million of bank-issued short-term investments. Long-term investments are predominantly equity-method and equity securities and are excluded.
  • Accounts receivable, net is $763.298 million.
  • Revenue is $16,105.276 million. The conservative non-compliant-income proxy combines $565.341 million of disclosed interest income and $104.605 million of net investment income; it is not a prohibited-revenue numerator.

This is a reproducible financial screen, not a fatwa. A failed total-assets screen can coexist with a pass under a market-cap methodology. ZakatInvest keeps the qualitative assessment separate so numerical thresholds do not erase material context.

🧾
Own NTES? Purify your portfolio.
Per-holding purification amounts, zakat on your shares, and halal alternatives for flagged holdings — a personalized report prepared for you within 48 hours.
Order Your Report — $49 →
Track NTES and 30,000+ stocks' live compliance status with Islamicly — 50% off with code ZAKAT50.Get Islamicly →

Want to screen more assets?

Use our interactive Halal Checker to screen any stock, ETF, or crypto instantly.

Go to Halal Checker →