Sea shares dip by over 8% as profit comes in below analyst expectations

The Singapore-based consumer internet firm reported revenue of $6 billion for the three months ending Sep. 30, up almost 40% year-on-year. Net income also rose by 145% to reach $375 million for the quarter. Yet the surge in profits still fell below analysts’ lofty predictions of $433 million, helping to send shares lower.

Sea’s operating expenses also jumped by 28%, as its e-commerce arm Shopee tries to strengthen its competitive edge of rivals like Alibaba’s Lazada and ByteDance’s TikTok Shop. A key focus was strengthening Sea’s logistics arm: “We are making our buyers happier while reducing [delivery] costs,” Forrest Li, the company’s chairman and CEO, said during an earnings briefing.

Li pointed to Taiwan, where buyers prefer to pick up goods themselves instead of home delivery. To meet demand, Sea expanded their automated locker store network, opening over 2,500 locations in less than three years. The lockers help lower cost per order by 30%, and Sea passes the savings on to consumers Li said.

Sea’s CEO also claimed that expanded delivery networks allowed Sea to reduce average delivery times by two days compared to a year earlier, allowing Shopee to sell more upmarket products.

Sea’s three business divisions—Shopee, video game developer Garena, and fintech unit Monee—all grew their revenue by double digits last quarter. “After a very strong first half of the year, our momentum has continued into the third quarter,” Li said in prepared remarks.

Shopee, the biggest contributor to Sea’s business, has now achieved five consecutive quarters of sequential gross merchandise value (GMV) growth. This quarter, Shopee’s GMV rose by 28.4% year-on-year, hitting a new high of $32.2 billion.

Monee, Sea’s financial services arm, also reported strong growth, with its loan book expanding 70% year-on-year, while maintaining a stable risk profile.

The company’s digital entertainment business, Garena, delivered its best quarter since 2021, with quarterly bookings up 51.1% year-on-year.

Li attributed this growth to the mobile game Free Fire, which ran two campaigns featuring famous characters from the TV shows Squid Game and Naruto that upped customer spending.

Sea now seeks to deepen its global presence, with a focus on markets in Asia and Latin America. “We take a very highly selective approach on any new geographic expansions,” said Hou Tianyu, Sea’s chief financial officer. Sea recently re-entered Argentina, while it shut down cross-border operations in Chile and Colombia.

“Latin America is an important market for us. We will continue to explore the opportunities to serve the consumers and business well there,” Hou added.

Sea’s CEO Li added that Taiwan is another crucial market for the company. “We still see a lot of room to deepen our penetration further in this highly attractive market,” Li said in prepared remarks.