Shopee Parent Sea Ltd Swings To Profit On Strong E-commerce Growth; Retail Investors Excited

Sea Ltd (SE), the firm behind the Shopee e-commerce and Garena gaming platforms popular in Southeast Asia, swung to a profit last quarter, driven by the strong performance of its retail operations.

U.S.-listed shares of the Singapore-headquartered company rose 8.2% to their highest level since November 2021 on Tuesday, lifting the sentiment among Stocktwits users.

Sea reported per-share earnings of $0.65 in the first quarter, compared with a loss of $0.04 a year earlier.

Revenue grew about 30% to $4.84 billion but it was below the analysts' estimate of $4.91 billion from FactSet.

"We have delivered another great quarter of strong growth with improving profitability across all three businesses," CEO Forrest Li said. Sea's third and smallest business segment is financial services.

E-commerce revenue grew 28% to $3.5 billion, led by a 29% jump in marketplace sales. Revenue from the digital entertainment unit, which includes Garena, increased 8.2%.

In March, the company projected that Shopee’s gross merchandise volume, or the total value of goods sold on the platform, would rise by approximately 20% in 2025, alongside gains in profitability.

JPMorgan upgraded its rating to 'Overweight' after Sea's Q1 results.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment jumped to 'extremely bullish' from 'bullish' a day prior.

A user said the rally showed "true momentum and buyer interest in the stock."

Sea shares are up 43.4% year to date.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.