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Sea First-Quarter Revenue Beats Estimates Amid Broad-Based Growth

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Sea First-Quarter Revenue Beats Estimates Amid Broad-Based Growth

Sea (SE) on Tuesday reported first-quarter revenue above market estimates as the Shopee parent saw growth across all core business segments.

The Singapore-based digital entertainment and e-commerce company's revenue came in at about $7.1 billion for the quarter ended March 31, up from $4.84 billion a year ago. The consensus on FactSet was for $6.46 billion. Net income rose to $0.67 a share from $0.65, but missed the Street's view for $0.75.

Sea's New York Stock Exchange-listed shares jumped 11% in the most recent premarket activity.

"2026 is a year where we are leaning in to deepen our competitive moats, while maintaining financial discipline," Chief Executive Forrest Li said in a statement. "Our strong revenue growth reflects the effectiveness of these investments, and we are already seeing unit economics start to improve for some of these initiatives."

Revenue from the Shopee e-commerce business climbed 44% year over year to $4.5 billion, led by a 61% surge in core marketplace revenue, which consists of transaction-based fees and advertising revenue. Shopee's gross merchandise value, or GMV, increased 30% to $37.3 billion.

"Looking ahead, we are confident in the strength of our Shopee ecosystem and our ability to execute our strategies," according to Li. "We are on track to deliver our 2026 guidance: to grow Shopee's annual GMV by around 25% year-on-year, with full year adjusted (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) no lower than 2025 in absolute dollar terms."

Revenue from the company's digital financial services provider Monee spiked 58% to $1.24 billion in the first quarter, buoyed by consumer and small- and medium-enterprise credit business. Sea operates Monee in Southeast Asia and Latin America.

"Expansion into more user segments, off-Shopee use cases, and early markets like Brazil are giving us a much larger addressable opportunity across our portfolio," Li said. "We remain confident that Monee will be a significant long-term profit contributor for Sea."

Revenue from Sea's Garena digital entertainment unit advanced 41% to $696.6 million as bookings rose 20%. Quarterly active users for Garena, a game developer and publisher, rose to 666.5 million from 661.8 million last year, while quarterly paying users inclined 12% to 72.6 million, the company said.

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