Sea Limited (SE) Stock Climbs 5% as Q1 Revenue Crushes Wall Street Forecasts

Table of Contents Sea Limited (SE) unveiled its first-quarter 2026 financial performance on May 12, triggering a 5.4% stock price increase despite missing earnings targets. Investor enthusiasm stemmed from revenue figures that substantially exceeded analyst predictions. Sea Limited, SE The company generated $7.1 billion in quarterly revenue, surpassing the $6.45 billion Wall Street projection. This represents a substantial 46.6% increase from the $4.8 billion recorded during Q1 2025. Adjusted earnings per share reached $0.67, trailing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.09. Net profit advanced 6.7% to $438.2 million. Adjusted EBITDA for the entire company increased 9.3% year-over-year to $1.0 billion. 𝗦𝗲𝗮 𝗟𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗤𝟭 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 $SEEPS: $0.70 vs $0.77 est. ❌Revenue: $7.10B vs $6.40B est. ✅ – Shopee: Q1 GMV reached US$37.3B (+30.2% YoY), with gross orders up 29.3% to 4.0B. – Monee: Revenue grew 57.8% YoY to US$1.2B. Loans outstanding climbed 71.3%… pic.twitter.com/NFjGhna31M — The Future Investors (@ftr_investors) May 12, 2026 Chairman and CEO Forrest Li emphasized the company’s strategy of making strategic investments to strengthen its competitive advantages while maintaining strict financial oversight. Shopee, the company’s e-commerce division, posted its strongest quarterly performance to date. Gross merchandise value totaled $37.3 billion, marking a 30.2% year-over-year increase. Segment revenue expanded 44.4% to $4.5 billion. Core marketplace revenue — encompassing transaction fees and advertising income — surged 61.0% to $3.8 billion. This metric serves as a critical indicator of the platform’s long-term monetization capabilities. Shopee’s adjusted EBITDA decreased to $223.2 million compared to $264.4 million in the prior-year quarter. Management explained this decline as a result of strategic investment initiatives. The company reaffirmed its guidance to achieve approximately 25% year-over-year GMV growth for Shopee throughout 2026. Total gross orders for the period reached 4.0 billion, up 29.3% from the previous year. Li described it as another milestone quarter across all major metrics including GMV, order volume, and revenue generation. Garena, the company’s gaming division, demonstrated impressive momentum. Bookings increased 20.1% to $931.4 million, while revenue surged 40.6% to $696.6 million. Adjusted EBITDA for the gaming segment grew 25.2% to $573.6 million. The division’s EBITDA margin as a percentage of bookings reached 61.6%, improving from 59.1% in Q1 2025. Free Fire remained the primary revenue driver for the segment, while Arena of Valor achieved record-breaking contributions. Quarterly active users totaled 666.5 million, remaining essentially unchanged year-over-year, while paying users increased 12.4% to 72.6 million. Monee, the digital financial services segment, maintained strong momentum. Revenue climbed 57.8% to $1.2 billion, with adjusted EBITDA rising 14% to $275.2 million. The consumer and SME loan portfolio reached $9.9 billion, representing a 71.3% year-over-year expansion. Non-performing loans remained stable at 1.1% of the total loan portfolio, a critical metric management monitors closely as lending operations scale. During the first quarter, Sea repurchased 1.8 million shares for $168.4 million under its $1.0 billion share buyback authorization.