Workflow
1 Unstoppable Tariff-Proof Growth Stock to Buy Hand Over Fist During the S&P 500 Correction
SESea(SE) The Motley Fool·2025-04-08 08:48

Core Viewpoint - Sea Limited is a rapidly expanding company with a strong balance sheet and attractive valuation, making it a potential investment opportunity, especially given its minimal exposure to U.S. tariffs [2][18]. Company Overview - Sea Limited operates Shopee, the largest e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia, and has a significant digital financial services business through SeaMoney, as well as a successful digital entertainment segment [1][4]. Financial Performance - Sea generated a record 16.8billioninrevenueduring2024,markinga2916.8 billion in revenue during 2024, marking a 29% year-over-year increase, the fastest growth rate since 2021 [10]. - Shopee contributed 12.4 billion to total revenue, growing at 38%, while SeaMoney's revenue increased by 34.6% to 2.4billion[11].Thedigitalentertainmentsegmentsrevenuedeclinedby13.62.4 billion [11]. - The digital entertainment segment's revenue declined by 13.6% to 1.9 billion, although there are signs of recovery [11]. Growth Strategies - Sea is focused on improving efficiency in Shopee's supply chain and logistics, with nearly half of orders shipped by SPX Express delivered in two days or less [5]. - SeaMoney is enhancing Shopee's growth by providing loans to merchants and consumers, driving more transactions on the platform [6][7]. User Engagement - SeaMoney had 5.1billioninloansoutstandingattheendof2024,a645.1 billion in loans outstanding at the end of 2024, a 64% increase from the previous year, and 26 million active users, up 60% [7]. - The digital entertainment segment had 618 million quarterly active users, a 16.9% increase year-over-year, although still below its peak [9]. Cost Management - Sea's total operating expenses increased by only 16.7% in 2024, allowing net income to rise by 175% to 447.8 million [13]. Stock Valuation - Sea's stock price has seen significant fluctuations, peaking at 357in2021andthendecliningby90357 in 2021 and then declining by 90%, but it gained 162% in 2024, presenting a potential buying opportunity [14]. - The current price-to-sales (P/S) ratio is 3.9, which is a 58% discount to its historical average of 9.3 [15]. Cash Position - Sea has 10.4 billion in cash and equivalents, providing flexibility for potential increased spending to pursue growth [17].