Sea Limited (SE) Shares Decline for Seventh Session, Down Over 4.2% Year-to-Date
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Jan 15 2026
0mins
Should l Buy SE?
Source: seekingalpha
- Stock Price Decline: Sea Limited's shares closed down 1.07% at $123.91 on Thursday, marking a seventh consecutive session of decline with a total drop exceeding 12.35%, significantly underperforming the S&P 500's 0.26% decrease.
- Strong Financial Performance: Despite achieving a 38% revenue growth and profitability across all segments in Q3, net profit fell short of market expectations due to increased tax expenses, highlighting profitability pressures amid strong operational momentum.
- Share Buyback Program: The company announced a $1 billion share buyback plan, and despite recent stock weakness, it maintains a strong balance sheet with net cash and negative net debt, indicating long-term financial health and stability.
- Analyst Optimism: Wall Street analysts remain largely bullish on Sea, with 31 rating the stock as Buy or higher, reflecting confidence in its future growth despite intense e-commerce competition and macroeconomic volatility.
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Analyst Views on SE
Wall Street analysts forecast SE stock price to rise
12 Analyst Rating
11 Buy
1 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 109.060
Low
138.00
Averages
184.58
High
226.00
Current: 109.060
Low
138.00
Averages
184.58
High
226.00
About SE
Sea Limited is a consumer Internet company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, operates three core businesses of e-commerce, digital financial services, and digital entertainment, known as Shopee, SeaMoney and Garena. Its segments are e-commerce, digital financial services, and digital entertainment. The platform of Garena offers mobile and personal computer online games and develops mobile games for the global market. It offers e-sports and provides access to other entertainment content and social features, such as live-streaming of gameplay, user chat, and online forums. The platform of Shopee is a mobile-centric, social-focused marketplace. It provides users a shopping environment with integrated payment, logistics infrastructure, and seller services. SeaMoney provides digital financial services and products, including mobile wallet services, payment processing, credit, banking, and Insurtech. It operates in Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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- Stock Recovery: Alibaba's stock has surged approximately 45% over the past year, primarily due to Jack Ma's return and easing geopolitical concerns, although most gains occurred between late August and early October, indicating market anticipation for upcoming earnings.
- Earnings Expectations: Alibaba is set to announce its earnings for the December quarter of 2025 around February 19, presenting investors with a tough decision on whether to buy shares before the report, especially given the company's history of missing earnings estimates in three of the last four quarters.
- Revenue Growth and Challenges: In the first half of fiscal 2025, Alibaba's cloud revenue rose by 30% year-over-year, while its e-commerce segments grew by 12% and 14%, respectively; however, a 27% decline in its smaller business revenue resulted in only a 3% overall revenue increase to nearly $70 billion, highlighting uneven growth.
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- Investor Confidence Fluctuations: While Jack Ma's return has bolstered investor confidence, Alibaba has missed earnings estimates in three of the last four quarters, and the upcoming earnings report could impact stock performance, necessitating caution among investors.
- Intensifying Market Competition: Despite easing geopolitical risks, Alibaba faces a challenging competitive landscape, and given Amazon's stability, investors may prefer to consider other more attractive investment options.
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- Analyst Rating Upgrade: JPMorgan analyst Marcelo Santos upgraded MercadoLibre to “overweight” and predicts growth rates exceeding 30% in Q4 2025, providing a positive outlook for the company's future performance.
- Changing Competitive Landscape: Santos noted that Shopee's increased “take rates” in Brazil suggest that price competition may be easing, which could give MercadoLibre room to expand its operating margins, despite a 260 basis point decline over the past two years.
- Future Growth Potential: The analyst set a price target of $2,800, implying a potential rise of over 30% in the next 12 months, indicating that MercadoLibre still holds appeal for investors, assuming it can maintain its current 12% margin.
See More
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See More
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- Complete Liquidation: Main Street Research LLC sold all 15,833 shares of MercadoLibre during Q4, with an estimated transaction value of $37 million, reflecting a full exit from this significant holding and resulting in a $37 million decrease in quarter-end position value.
- Asset Management Impact: This transaction represented approximately 2.12% of Main Street Research's 13F reportable assets under management, compared to 2.0% in the previous quarter, indicating a significant portfolio adjustment decision by the fund.
- Underperformance Issues: Despite being a leading Latin American e-commerce and fintech platform, MercadoLibre's stock has significantly underperformed the S&P 500 over the past year, facing competitive pressures from companies like Amazon and Sea Limited, which may have influenced Main Street Research's decision to sell.
- Uncertain Future Outlook: While MercadoLibre is leveraging AI and loan limits to address rising bad-loan losses, potential economic recovery in Argentina and leadership changes in Venezuela could stimulate activity in critical markets, suggesting that investors should carefully evaluate the stock's future potential.
See More
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See More
