Sea posts surprise loss on hefty ecommerce investments, shares fall

Singapore-based Sea reported a surprise third-quarter loss as the Southeast Asian tech giant prioritized growth over profits by pouring money into its e-commerce business, sending its shares more than 17% lower on Tuesday.

Rising competition from Alibaba Group's Lazada and ByteDance's TikTok, along with new entrants like PDD's Temu, have forced Sea to revamp its playbook this year, with warnings that the increased ecommerce investments may lead to losses in some quarters.

"The entrance of new players has intensified competition in our markets ... we will prioritise investing in the business (e-commerce) to increase our market share and further strengthen our market leadership," said CEO Forrest Li.


The company also expects to boost investments, it said, ahead of the key holiday shopping season in the fourth quarter.

Sea has spent heavily in what is called "ecommerce live streaming", where products are sold over live videos, a model popular in China.

The company posted a loss of 26 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, ending its streak of three straight profitable quarters. Analysts were expecting a profit of 3 cents per share, according to LSEG data.

The $26 billion-firm had a meteoric run in 2020 and part of 2021, when pandemic-led demand lifted revenues and helped it expand beyond Southeast Asian markets.

However, a global economic slowdown hit e-commerce and digital entertainment, forcing Sea to undertake hefty cost cuts including laying off thousands of employees.

Sea's quarterly revenue grew 4.9% to $3.3 billion, with the ecommerce segment growing more than 16%.