Key Takeaways
- Sea Limited (SE) shares climbed 5.4% following Q1 revenue of $7.1B, significantly surpassing the $6.45B Wall Street forecast
- Adjusted earnings per share registered $0.67, falling short of the $0.76 analyst projection
- Shopee achieved record-breaking GMV of $37.3B, representing 30.2% growth compared to last year
- Garena delivered its strongest performance since 2021, with bookings climbing 20.1% to $931.4M
- Monee revenue jumped 57.8% to $1.2B, while the loan portfolio expanded 71.3% year-over-year
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.
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.
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 Achieves Unprecedented GMV Milestone
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 Posts Strongest Results in Three Years
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.
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