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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SE’s first-quarter earnings is pegged at 96 cents per share, a decrease of 6.8% over the past 30 days. The company reported earnings of 86 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $6.95 billion, suggesting year-over-year growth of 35.75%.
Sea Limited’s earnings missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, delivering an average negative surprise of 14.26%.
Let us see how things have shaped up for the upcoming announcement.
Key Factors to Consider Ahead of SE’s Q1 Results
Sea Limited’s rapidly expanding credit business under Monee is also likely to have increased financial and operational risks heading into the first quarter of 2026. Consumer and SME loans outstanding surged 80.4% year over year to $9.2 billion as of December 2025, driven by broader lending access and off-Shopee expansion initiatives. However, this rapid scaling materially lifted provisioning and marketing expenses. Provision for credit losses jumped 66.7% year over year in fourth-quarter 2025, while Monee sales and marketing expenses nearly doubled. Although non-performing loans remained stable, the aggressive loan expansion strategy and rising borrower acquisition costs are anticipated to have increased earnings volatility and pressured profitability in the quarter under review.
The company also continued facing rising operating cost pressures across its ecosystem, which are expected to have weighed on first-quarter performance. Total cost of revenues increased 40.4% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2025, outpacing revenue growth, driven by higher logistics expenses at Shopee, rising royalty and payment-channel costs at Garena, and increased collection and banking-related costs at Monee. At the same time, sales and marketing expenses climbed 33.6% year over year as Sea Limited intensified promotional and user engagement efforts. These elevated operating expenses, combined with ongoing investments in market leadership initiatives, are likely to have affected the company’s overall margin profile in the to-be-reported quarter.
Sea Limited’s Garena business is likely to have faced slower user growth in the first quarter of 2026 despite strong monetization trends in 2025. Quarterly active users grew only 2.5% year over year in the prior quarter, much slower than the 15% increase in paying users, indicating that future growth may depend more on existing users spending more rather than attracting many new users. At the same time, Garena’s expenses increased due to higher royalty payments to game developers and costs related to third-party content. These factors are expected to have pressured profitability and affected Sea Limited’s gaming performance in the quarter under review.
However, Shopee’s strengthening network, improving monetization and expanding logistics infrastructure are likely to have remained major growth drivers for Sea Limited in the first quarter of 2026. The company achieved 27% GMV growth in 2025 while ad revenues surged more than 70% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2025, supported by higher ad-paying sellers and increased ad spending. Shopee VIP subscribers surpassed 7 million, while faster delivery services boosted buyer spending by around 15% after adoption. Management also guided for around 25% GMV growth in 2026, indicating stronger monetization and deeper market leadership in the quarter under review.
What Our Model Says About Sea Limited Stock
Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for SE this time around. According to the Zacks model, the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that is not the case here.
Sea Limited currently has an Earnings ESP of +1.57% and a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Stocks to Consider
Here are some companies worth considering, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat earnings in their upcoming releases:
Applied Materials (AMAT - Free Report) currently has an Earnings ESP of +1.52% and carries a Zacks Rank #2. AMAT shares have surged 66.8% in the year-to-date period. AMAT is set to report its second-quarter fiscal year 2026 results on May 14. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Cisco Systems (CSCO - Free Report) presently has an Earnings ESP of +1.92% and a Zacks Rank #2. CSCO shares have gained 18.8% in the year-to-date period. CSCO is set to report its third-quarter fiscal 2026 results on May 13.
Sabre Corporation (SABR - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +88.24% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present. SABR shares have appreciated 35.3% in the year-to-date period. SABR is slated to report its first-quarter 2026 results on May 7.
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Sea Limited Gears Up to Report Q1 Earnings: What's in the Offing?
Key Takeaways
Sea Limited (SE - Free Report) is scheduled to report first-quarter 2026 results on May 12.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SE’s first-quarter earnings is pegged at 96 cents per share, a decrease of 6.8% over the past 30 days. The company reported earnings of 86 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $6.95 billion, suggesting year-over-year growth of 35.75%.
Sea Limited’s earnings missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, delivering an average negative surprise of 14.26%.
Sea Limited Sponsored ADR Price and EPS Surprise
Sea Limited Sponsored ADR price-eps-surprise | Sea Limited Sponsored ADR Quote
Let us see how things have shaped up for the upcoming announcement.
Key Factors to Consider Ahead of SE’s Q1 Results
Sea Limited’s rapidly expanding credit business under Monee is also likely to have increased financial and operational risks heading into the first quarter of 2026. Consumer and SME loans outstanding surged 80.4% year over year to $9.2 billion as of December 2025, driven by broader lending access and off-Shopee expansion initiatives. However, this rapid scaling materially lifted provisioning and marketing expenses. Provision for credit losses jumped 66.7% year over year in fourth-quarter 2025, while Monee sales and marketing expenses nearly doubled. Although non-performing loans remained stable, the aggressive loan expansion strategy and rising borrower acquisition costs are anticipated to have increased earnings volatility and pressured profitability in the quarter under review.
The company also continued facing rising operating cost pressures across its ecosystem, which are expected to have weighed on first-quarter performance. Total cost of revenues increased 40.4% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2025, outpacing revenue growth, driven by higher logistics expenses at Shopee, rising royalty and payment-channel costs at Garena, and increased collection and banking-related costs at Monee. At the same time, sales and marketing expenses climbed 33.6% year over year as Sea Limited intensified promotional and user engagement efforts. These elevated operating expenses, combined with ongoing investments in market leadership initiatives, are likely to have affected the company’s overall margin profile in the to-be-reported quarter.
Sea Limited’s Garena business is likely to have faced slower user growth in the first quarter of 2026 despite strong monetization trends in 2025. Quarterly active users grew only 2.5% year over year in the prior quarter, much slower than the 15% increase in paying users, indicating that future growth may depend more on existing users spending more rather than attracting many new users. At the same time, Garena’s expenses increased due to higher royalty payments to game developers and costs related to third-party content. These factors are expected to have pressured profitability and affected Sea Limited’s gaming performance in the quarter under review.
However, Shopee’s strengthening network, improving monetization and expanding logistics infrastructure are likely to have remained major growth drivers for Sea Limited in the first quarter of 2026. The company achieved 27% GMV growth in 2025 while ad revenues surged more than 70% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2025, supported by higher ad-paying sellers and increased ad spending. Shopee VIP subscribers surpassed 7 million, while faster delivery services boosted buyer spending by around 15% after adoption. Management also guided for around 25% GMV growth in 2026, indicating stronger monetization and deeper market leadership in the quarter under review.
What Our Model Says About Sea Limited Stock
Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for SE this time around. According to the Zacks model, the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that is not the case here.
Sea Limited currently has an Earnings ESP of +1.57% and a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Stocks to Consider
Here are some companies worth considering, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat earnings in their upcoming releases:
Applied Materials (AMAT - Free Report) currently has an Earnings ESP of +1.52% and carries a Zacks Rank #2. AMAT shares have surged 66.8% in the year-to-date period. AMAT is set to report its second-quarter fiscal year 2026 results on May 14. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Cisco Systems (CSCO - Free Report) presently has an Earnings ESP of +1.92% and a Zacks Rank #2. CSCO shares have gained 18.8% in the year-to-date period. CSCO is set to report its third-quarter fiscal 2026 results on May 13.
Sabre Corporation (SABR - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +88.24% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present. SABR shares have appreciated 35.3% in the year-to-date period. SABR is slated to report its first-quarter 2026 results on May 7.