Sea’s Earnings Rebound Is Real, but the Cost Fight Is Not Over
Sea Limited’s latest results were a jumble, but one thing stood out: demand is outpacing what analysts had penciled in. Shares were quoted at $96.13 in pre-market action just after 7:39 a.m. Eastern, a 13% pop from the $85.07 close. First-quarter revenue hit $7.10 billion, topping the $6.46 billion estimate, while earnings per share landed at $0.67—ten cents shy of the consensus. U.S. markets hadn’t opened yet, but the reason for the surge was clear enough. Sea’s credibility with investors took a major hit just two months back. March brought a rough headline from Reuters: shares sank about 25% after the company warned of escalating operating costs and softer GMV projections for Shopee, sparking concerns that Sea might sacrifice too much margin to hold onto market share. Fast forward to today—this latest report dialed down some of that anxiety. Not all of it, but enough to trigger a strong relief rally.