Shopee's Profit Gap Closed. Monee's Is Now the Widest
Over these 12 quarters: share price $40.50 to $97.36 (+140%); operating income -57 to 664 US$ million; operating income margin -1.6% to 7.7%. One graph in actual numbers: bars are the quarter's operating income, over them the share price at quarter-end (left axis) and the operating income margin (right axis); each line is fitted to its own range, so read the timing, not the heights. Prices are adjusted for splits.
Sea's profit nearly caught up with its revenue in Q3 2026, but the gap moved to Monee: operating income grew 39.5% on revenue growth of 43.4%, while loan-loss provisions rose 82.3% and loans more than 90 days overdue rose to 1.3% of the loan book from 1.0% a quarter earlier.
Last quarter's post found revenue up 48.1% but Adjusted EBITDA» and net income up 10.6% each, with Shopee's profit barely moving. This quarter the profit lines caught up (net income +34.0%, Shopee's segment operating income +41.1%), and the gap between revenue growth and operating-income growth, 16.7 points at Q1 and 14.8 at Q2, is now 3.9. The complication is where the pressure moved: Monee's operating income grew 16.2% on revenue up 63.9%. Our reading is that Shopee's cost of service grew slower than its revenue this quarter, while Monee's growth is being bought with marketing and credit costs.
Marketing and loan-loss provisions took 78% of the extra gross profit again
Gross profit rose $1,336.1 million (+51.4%) to $3,935.4 million, and sales and marketing plus loan-loss provisions took $1,044.1 million of that, 78%, almost the same share as Q2's 77%. In plain words: sales and marketing is what Sea spends to win and keep users, and the provision for credit losses» is an expense booked for loans that may not be repaid, which grows with the loan book. Sales and marketing rose $736.4 million (+64.0%) to $1,886.7 million and the provision rose $307.7 million (+82.3%) to $681.5 million; general and administrative expenses rose 25.1% and research and development 5.4%, and operating income rose $188.2 million to $664.2 million. The gap closed anyway because gross profit grew faster (+51.4%) than revenue (+43.4%), lifting gross margin to 45.9% from 43.4%, where at Q2 it had grown slightly slower (+47.3% against +48.1%).
Shopee's profit matched its revenue growth, but at the same 2.6% margin as a year ago
US$ million; margin is segment operating income as a percent of segment revenue, per quarter. Revenue is the segment revenue (segment note, GAAP total incl. goods sales); profit is the segment operating income. Values are standalone quarters; some are derived from half-year, nine-month or full-year figures in the filings.
Shopee's segment operating income rose 41.1% to $155.4 million on revenue up 41.3% to $6,070.2 million, which passes the test set in last quarter's post, but the margin is 2.6%, unchanged from a year earlier. That test was cost of service growing slower than service revenue: it rose 36.8% to $3,469.2 million against service revenue up 40.9% to $5,324.0 million. Sales and marketing then took the gain back: it rose 60.0% to $1,431.6 million, 23.6% of segment revenue against 20.8% a year ago. By our arithmetic, at last year's 20.8% it would have been $1,264.5 million, $167.1 million less, more than the segment's whole operating income. Operating income also fell 3.0% from Q2's $160.3 million. Sea's presentation says Shopee remains on track for Adjusted EBITDA of $1 billion for 2026; nine-month Shopee Adjusted EBITDA is $747.8 million, so Q4 needs $252.2 million, less than Q3's $269.2 million.
Monee's operating income grew 16.2% on revenue up 63.9%, and bad loans rose
US$ million; margin is segment operating income as a percent of segment revenue, per quarter. Revenue is the segment revenue (segment note, GAAP); profit is the segment operating income. Values are standalone quarters; some are derived from half-year, nine-month or full-year figures in the filings.
Monee's revenue grew 63.9% to $1,621.9 million but its operating income only 16.2% to $288.5 million, with marketing (+111.8%) and loan-loss provisions (+82.3%) absorbing 76% of the added revenue. Monee's segment sales and marketing was $334.6 million against $158.0 million, and its segment provision $678.7 million against $372.3 million, 41.8% of segment revenue against 37.6%; its operating margin was 17.8% against 25.1% a year ago and 19.9% at Q2. The NPL» 90+ ratio, loans more than 90 days overdue as a share of the loan book, was 1.3% against 1.0% at Q2 and 1.1% a year earlier. Sea's presentation calls it a "modest NPL uptick" that "primarily reflects evolving credit environment, especially in Thailand and Brazil, as well as market and product mix", and says Sea "proactively recalibrated underwriting criteria and credit limit management for selected customer segments at early signs of softness". More on the book is in Monee below.
The Prescription
Sea should keep doing at Monee what it just did at Shopee: win on cost per unit, not on spend per customer. Shopee's cost of service grew slower than its service revenue; the release attributes its growth to higher logistics costs as order volume grew and to investment in logistics capabilities, and Sea's presentation says instant-delivery orders in Indonesia more than doubled while cost-per-order fell year on year. Our reading is that falling cost per order, not fewer orders, is what held cost below revenue growth. Monee has the same lever on the customers it already has: active credit users are nearly 44 million, average loans outstanding per user grew 23%, and more than 40% of active credit users already use two or more credit products. Deepening those relationships with higher limits and longer tenures is cheaper than winning first-time borrowers, of whom Sea added nearly 6 million this quarter while marketing more than doubled.
What Sea should stop doing is expanding credit and marketing at full speed in the markets where its own presentation ties the rise in the ratio to the credit environment, which it says is evolving especially in Thailand and Brazil. A loan book up 60.0% to $12.6 billion, a bad-loan ratio that moved about 30 basis points in a quarter and a provision growing at 82.3% are the signs of a business that should slow its newest cohorts until the ratio stops rising, because the cost of a bad loan arrives in the provision line long before the revenue it was meant to earn.
Key Financial Metrics
US$ billion; margin is operating income as a percent of net revenue, per quarter. Values are standalone quarters; 3 derived from annual, half-year or nine-month figures (Q4 2023, Q4 2024, Q4 2025).
Q3 2026 vs. Q3 2025, all figures in USD as reported (Sea reports in US dollars)
| Metric | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total GAAP revenue | $8,582.3M | $5,986.0M | +43.4% |
| Total gross profit | $3,935.4M | $2,599.4M | +51.4% |
| Operating income | $664.2M | $475.9M | +39.5% |
| Total Adjusted EBITDA» (Sea's new definition; see Beyond the Usual) | $931.3M | $722.3M (restated) | +28.9% |
| Net income | $502.5M | $375.0M | +34.0% |
| Diluted earnings per share | $0.78 | $0.59 | +32.2% |
| Free cash flow | Not reported by Sea; nine-month operating cash flow was $4,064.7M against about $1,042M of purchases of property and equipment, and no standalone Q3 cash-flow statement is given | — | — |
| Cash and cash equivalents | $2,905.3M | $3,067.8M | -5.3% |
Operating margin was 7.7% against 8.0% a year earlier: profit grew nearly as fast as revenue, but did not widen. Net income grew less than operating income (+34.0% against +39.5%) because income tax expense grew 74.0% to $280.4 million, which is taken up in Beyond the Usual. Non-operating income was $123.3 million against $61.2 million, and the release says it was primarily an investment gain of $65.2 million and interest income of $62.2 million; without the gain, pre-tax income would have been about $722.3 million, up 34.5% on last year's $537.1 million (our arithmetic), so part of the 46.6% pre-tax growth shown below rests on it. Cash and cash equivalents were $3,529.3 million at June 30, 2026, and Sea's convertible notes, $996.3 million at that date, were nil at September 30 (see Beyond the Usual).
Where Q3 2026's Revenue Went
Net revenue, and how much of it was left as operating profit and net income, in one view. Figures are the same standalone-quarter figures as the metrics table.
US$ billion, Q3 2026. Thin slices are drawn at a minimum height so they stay visible; the printed values and percentages are exact. Operating costs are net revenue less operating income; other items & tax are operating income less net income.
Key Operational Metrics
Q3 2026, per Sea's press release and presentation
Arrow = the way the number moved against a year earlier. Green = good for Sea, red = bad, grey = flat.
- Shopee GMV»: $39.7 billion, +23.3% year-on-year.
- Shopee gross orders: 4.5 billion, +25.5% year-on-year.
- Shopee GAAP take rate» (revenue as a percentage of GMV): 15.3%, up from 13.3%.
- Shopee core marketplace revenue (transaction fees and advertising): $4,599.6 million, +50.6% year-on-year.
- Shopee value-added services revenue (mainly logistics services): unchanged year-on-year, $724.4 million against $723.6 million, while gross orders grew 25.5%.
- Monee loans principal outstanding (on-book and off-book): $12.6 billion, +60.0% year-on-year ($11.2 billion on-book, $1.3 billion off-book).
- Monee NPL 90+ ratio: 1.3%, up from 1.1%.
- Active credit users: nearly 44 million, up about 28% year-on-year.
- Garena bookings: $890.0 million, +5.9% year-on-year.
- Garena quarterly active users»: unchanged year-on-year, 671.7 million against 670.8 million.
- Garena quarterly paying users: 68.6 million, +4.1% year-on-year; the paying-user ratio is 10.2%, up from 9.8%.
- Garena average bookings per user: $1.33, up from $1.25.
Segment Comparison
Sea reports three segments plus Other Services and unallocated corporate expenses, using bookings for Garena and GAAP revenue for the other two, per the metric set established in Q3 2020.
| Segment | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 | YoY | QoQ (vs Q2 2026) | Q3 2026 Op. Income | Q3 2026 Adj. EBITDA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shopee | $6,070.2M revenue | $4,294.8M | +41.3% | +8.6% | $155.4M (+41.1% YoY) | $269.2M (+44.7% YoY) |
| Monee | $1,621.9M revenue | $989.9M | +63.9% | +15.6% | $288.5M (+16.2% YoY) | $298.3M (+15.5% YoY) |
| Garena | $890.0M bookings | $840.7M | +5.9% | +16.6% | $453.2M (+46.3% YoY) | $458.2M (+45.9% YoY) |
| Other Services | $50.1M revenue | $48.4M | +3.5% | -1.4% | -$90.4M (worse YoY) | -$83.9M (worse YoY) |
| Unallocated expenses | — | — | — | — | -$142.6M (improved YoY) | -$10.4M |
| Total | $8,582.3M revenue | $5,986.0M | +43.4% | +10.2% | $664.2M (+39.5% YoY) | $931.3M (+28.9% YoY) |
Garena posted the fastest operating-income growth (+46.3%) on the slowest bookings growth (+5.9%); the reason, and why that profit growth is the least solid of the three, is in Garena below. Shopee's operating income now grows in line with its revenue, which last quarter it did not (+3.5% on revenue up 48.2%), while Monee's grows at about a quarter of its revenue growth rate, as it did last quarter (+14.8% on +58.9%), and its margin is the only one of the three to fall year on year. Shopee, Sea's largest segment, still earns a 2.6% operating margin, against 17.8% for Monee and 53.9% for Garena (operating income over GAAP revenue).
Not attributed to any segment
The table above ends at each segment's own profit. The table below starts from the Adjusted EBITDA Sea reports for its segments and shows every step to operating income, as Sea's own reconciliation lists them (US$ million, three months ended September 30; press release lines 427-447).
| Step | Q3 2026 | Q3 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Shopee Adjusted EBITDA | 269.2 | 186.1 |
| Monee Adjusted EBITDA | 298.3 | 258.3 |
| Garena Adjusted EBITDA | 458.2 | 314.0 |
| Other Services Adjusted EBITDA | (83.9) | (25.1) |
| Total segment Adjusted EBITDA | 941.7 | 733.3 |
| Unallocated expenses, not attributed to any segment | (10.4) | (10.9) |
| Total Adjusted EBITDA (the group figure on the same measure) | 931.3 | 722.3 |
| Depreciation and amortization | (135.0) | (92.2) |
| Share-based compensation, which Sea holds in unallocated expenses | (132.1) | (154.2) |
| Operating income | 664.2 | 475.9 |
Sea shows no elimination line between the segments and the group: the only amount it leaves outside every segment is the unallocated column, "mainly related to share-based compensation, and general and corporate administrative costs such as professional fees and other miscellaneous items". In Adjusted EBITDA terms that is only $10.4 million, because share-based compensation is added back; in operating-income terms it is $142.6 million (the $132.1 million of share-based compensation plus the $10.4 million), which takes the segments' combined operating income of $806.7 million to the group's $664.2 million. The release does not itemise the $10.4 million beyond that sentence. The net effect of changes in Garena's deferred revenue ($52.0 million this quarter) is shown by Sea as supplemental information and is not a step in this bridge, because the new definition leaves it out.
Shopee
GAAP revenue was $6,070.2 million, up 41.3%, on GMV of $39.7 billion (+23.3%) and gross orders of 4.5 billion (+25.5%): revenue again grew faster than volume, and the GAAP take rate was 15.3% against 13.3% a year earlier. GMV growth was 23.3% against 28.4% at Q2 and 30.2% at Q1, and Sea's presentation says it expects about 25% for 2026. The mix behind the revenue is lopsided: core marketplace revenue (transaction fees and advertising) grew 50.6% to $4,599.6 million, and Sea's presentation says advertising revenue grew more than 55% with the ad take rate up more than 80 basis points, but value-added services revenue, mainly logistics fees, was $724.4 million against $723.6 million a year earlier. The release does not explain the flat line; last quarter Sea attributed a 9.0% fall in that line to shipping subsidies netted against revenue. Shopee's Adjusted EBITDA was $269.2 million (+44.7%), 4.4% of revenue against 4.3%, and Chairman and CEO Forrest Li says Shopee is "again achieving new record highs in both top- and bottom-line metrics". The presentation adds that ShopeeVIP members exceeded 21 million at the end of September, close to 25% of Shopee's GMV, and that orders from livestreaming and short-form video grew more than 45%. The profit arithmetic is in the opening section above.
Monee
Loans principal outstanding reached $12.6 billion, +60.0% year on year and +12.8% from the end of June, of which $1.3 billion is off-book (lending by other financial institutions on Sea's platform). Revenue is primarily from the consumer and SME credit business, and the press release attributes Monee's revenue growth to the growth of its credit business "as our lending activities increased". Cost of revenue rose 43.9% to $180.8 million, which the release ties to higher interest expense on growing customer deposits, payment network costs, funding costs and collection expenses. The deck adds the shape of the book: personal cash loans and off-Shopee SPayLater loans make up about 60% of it, off-Shopee SPayLater is nearly 25% of the SPayLater portfolio (nearly 40% in Malaysia) and more than doubled year on year, and the ShopeePay Unlimited Card in Thailand lets users use their SPayLater limit wherever Mastercard is accepted. Sea's presentation says "unit economics are healthy" and that it continues to invest where it sees a clear path to attractive long-term returns; the margin arithmetic and the NPL ratio are in the opening section above. Monee's Adjusted EBITDA (+15.5% to $298.3 million) grew at about a quarter of its revenue growth rate.
Garena
US$ million; margin is segment operating income as a percent of segment revenue, per quarter. Revenue is the segment revenue (segment note, GAAP); profit is the segment operating income. Values are standalone quarters; some are derived from half-year, nine-month or full-year figures in the filings.
Bookings were $890.0 million, +5.9% year on year and +16.6% from Q2's $763.5 million. Bookings growth has slowed in each of the last four quarters: +51.1% at Q3 2025, then +23.8%, +20.1%, +15.5% and now +5.9%. GAAP revenue was $840.1 million (+28.6%) and operating income $453.2 million (+46.3%). Revenue grew nearly five times as fast as bookings because less of the bookings was deferred: the change in Garena's deferred revenue was $49.9 million against $187.6 million a year earlier, and bookings are GAAP revenue plus that change. On the new definition Garena's Adjusted EBITDA is $458.2 million, +45.9%; adding back the net effect of deferred revenue and its related cost ($52.0 million this quarter, $151.9 million a year ago) gives $510.2 million against $465.9 million, +9.5%, close to the bookings growth. Our reading is that Garena's underlying growth is the 6% to 10% the bookings show, not the 46% on the profit lines. Quarterly active users were 671.7 million against 670.8 million, paying users grew 4.1% to 68.6 million, and average bookings per user rose to $1.33 from $1.25: more spending from a flat user base. Sea's presentation credits Free Fire, a returning NARUTO SHIPPUDEN collaboration, and Arena of Valor's tenth-anniversary events, including a concert at the Taipei Dome drawing about 30,000 fans.
Beyond the Usual
This section rests on Sea's press release and presentation of November 10, 2026, which carry the full unaudited statements. Sea, as a foreign private issuer, files no 10-Q-equivalent, so there is no interim footnote package; the findings come from the statements, segment tables and the cash-flow narrative.
Adjusted EBITDA grew 28.9% on Sea's new definition and 12.5% on the old one
From this quarter Sea's Adjusted EBITDA excludes the net effect of changes in Garena's deferred revenue and its related cost, and continues to show that effect as supplemental information. The year-ago quarter was restated: $722.3 million now, $874.3 million as first reported. On the new definition Q3 2026 is $931.3 million, +28.9%. Adding the effect back ($52.0 million this quarter against $151.9 million a year ago, down 65.8%) gives $983.3 million against $874.3 million, +12.5%. In our reading, the new figure follows GAAP revenue recognition (operating income plus depreciation and amortization plus share-based compensation) where the old one followed Garena's bookings, and neither is wrong. But whether the revenue-to-profit gap is closing depends on the measure: it is 14.5 points on the new definition (43.4% against 28.9%) and 30.9 points on the old (43.4% against 12.5%), against 3.9 points on operating income, which no definition touches.
The effective tax rate was higher than a year earlier for a third straight quarter, with no explanation given
Income tax expense grew 74.0% to $280.4 million on pre-tax income of $787.5 million (operating income plus non-operating income), up 46.6%: an effective rate of about 35.6% against 30.0% a year ago. At Q2 the rate was about 35.0% against 25.2%, and at Q1 32.7% against 25.0%; for the nine months it is 34.5% against 26.7%. The press release says only that Sea had a net income tax expense of $280.4 million and $161.1 million in the two quarters, with no breakdown by jurisdiction or one-off item. At last year's rate the quarter's tax would have been about $236.2 million, $44.2 million less (our arithmetic, illustrative). Three quarters in a row with a higher rate and no stated cause is in our reading a pattern, and worth checking against the FY2026 20-F once it is filed.
Operating cash flow leaves out $4.4 billion of loans made
Sea reports no free cash flow, and its operating cash flow (nine months: $4,064.7 million, +14.6% on $3,548.1 million) is not cash left over after lending. The $4,446 million increase in loans receivable of the credit business sits in investing activities, which used $5,628.6 million in total, and the funding sits in financing: an increase in bank deposits of $1,823 million and $436 million of net proceeds from other credit-funding sources. Deposits payable on the balance sheet were $5,358.5 million at September 30 against $3,798.3 million at December 31 (+41.1%).
The allowance for credit losses covers 11.5% of gross loans receivable, up from 9.6% at December
The balance sheet shows allowances for credit losses on loans receivable of $1,334.4 million (current) and $47.9 million (non-current) at September 30, together $1,382.2 million, against $841.97 million at December 31. Against gross loans receivable (net balances plus allowances) of $11,985.9 million that is 11.5%, against 9.6% on $8,806.0 million at December 31. Sea is carrying a larger reserve as the NPL ratio rises, though the NPL ratio is measured on principal outstanding, including off-book loans, and the allowance on on-book receivables, so the two are not a like-for-like coverage figure.
Capital spending in nine months is already about twice all of 2025
Purchases of property and equipment were about $1,042 million in the nine months to September 30, 2026, against $495 million in the first half, which makes about $547 million for Q3 (our arithmetic from rounded figures), and Sea's 20-F gives capital expenditures for all of 2025 as $524.5 million (that measure also includes software, which the nine-month figure does not, so the comparison if anything understates the rise). Property and equipment, net, was $1,865.9 million against $1,306.8 million at December 31 (+42.8%), and operating lease right-of-use assets were $2,079.1 million against $1,425.2 million (+45.9%).
The convertible notes are gone and the buyback was extended
Convertible notes were $1,050.1 million at December 31, $996.3 million at June 30 and nil at September 30; the nine-month cash-flow narrative shows $1,051 million used to redeem them and $743 million to repurchase ordinary shares, and treasury stock stood at $635.6 million against $14.5 million at December 31. Under the original $1.0 billion program Sea has repurchased 11.1 million shares for $997.2 million (about $89.8 a share, our arithmetic), and on November 9, 2026 the board approved a further $1.0 billion with no expiration. The share price used in Target Valuation Range is $97.36.
Target Valuation Range
In line with its peers on revenue, richer than three of the four on earnings, and a notch cheaper than its own Q2. At $97.36 Sea trades at about 1.9x EV/Revenue and 15.8x EV/Adjusted EBITDA, against 2.1x and 16.1x at Q2: about level with PDD and Grab, richer than Alibaba, Coupang and GoTo, cheaper than MercadoLibre and Nu. The price rose 1.6% in the quarter while trailing revenue grew 9.4%, so the multiple fell.
In plain words: the price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) divides the market value of the shares by a year of profit; price-to-book (P/B) divides it by the shareholders' equity on the balance sheet; and enterprise value (EV) is the market value of the shares plus the debt Sea owes less the cash it holds, which EV/Revenue and EV/Adjusted EBITDA divide by a year of sales and a year of Adjusted EBITDA so that companies of different size can be compared. The takeaway: at $97.36 Sea is priced at about 1.9 times a year of revenue and 15.8 times a year of Adjusted EBITDA, and its P/E of about 34 is above Alibaba's, Nu's and PDD's and below MercadoLibre's.
| Company (latest post) | Period and basis | EV/Revenue | EV/Adjusted EBITDA | P/E |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea (this post) | Q3 2026, September 30, 2026 close; EV = market cap + convertible notes (nil) - cash and cash equivalents; trailing four quarters (Q4 2025 to Q3 2026); EV/Adjusted EBITDA on Sea's former definition for all four quarters; P/E = market cap / trailing net income | ~1.9x | ~15.8x | ~34.1x |
| MercadoLibre | Q3 2026, September 30, 2026 close; EV = market cap + total debt incl. operating lease liabilities - unrestricted cash and investments; trailing four quarters | ~2.5x | ~24.3x | ~46.4x |
| Alibaba | Q1 FY2027 (quarter ended June 30, 2026), June 30, 2026 ADS close; EV = market cap + total debt - cash and short-term investments, non-controlling interests not added; trailing twelve months; P/E on net income attributable to Alibaba | ~1.42x | ~13.9x | ~20.7x |
| PDD | Q2 2026, June 30, 2026 ADS close; EV = market cap + total liabilities - cash and cash equivalents; trailing four quarters | ~1.88x | not in that post | ~8.28x |
| Coupang | Q3 2026, September 30, 2026 close; EV = market cap - net cash (cash and equivalents less total debt); trailing four quarters | ~0.59x | ~36.8x (trailing) | not meaningful (loss) |
| Nu | Q2 2026, June 30, 2026 close; EV = market cap + total liabilities (interest-bearing borrowings, financing, leases) - cash; trailing twelve months (Q3 2025 to Q2 2026) | ~2.9x | not in that post | ~17.9x |
| Grab | Q3 2026, September 30, 2026 close; EV = market cap - net cash liquidity; trailing four quarters of revenue ($3,970M); the EBITDA multiple is on the FY2026 guidance midpoint ($795M), not trailing | ~1.9x | ~9.6x (on guidance) | not in that post |
| GoTo | Q3 2026, September 30, 2026 close; EV = market cap + total liabilities - cash and equivalents, non-controlling interests not added; trailing twelve months of net revenue; the EBITDA multiple is on the FY2026 guidance midpoint, not trailing | 1.53x (1.34x on owner-held shares) | ~9.1x (on guidance) | not in that post |
The comparison is not exact: the companies differ in business mix, country and risk, their EVs are built differently (Sea adds only its convertible notes, which are nil this quarter, PDD and Nu add all liabilities, MercadoLibre adds lease liabilities), three peers are priced at June 30 rather than September 30, Grab's and GoTo's EBITDA multiples rest on company guidance where the others use trailing Adjusted EBITDA, and Sea's P/E uses net income before non-controlling interests where Alibaba's uses net income attributable to its shareholders.
Sea does not break out a third-quarter diluted share count. The market cap below uses the nine-month weighted-average diluted count of 633,066 thousand shares from the press release, the same kind of period count used last quarter (634,487,453 on a six-month basis), because no point-in-time count is in the release; the nine-month weighted-average basic count of 610,532 thousand would give a market cap of about $59.4 billion. Revenue for EV/Revenue is trailing four quarters ($30,319.4 million) and the EBITDA multiple uses the same four quarters on Sea's former definition ($3,721.9 million, with Q3 2026 at $983.3 million), the basis of last quarter's 16.1x. As a cross-check, Q3 net income attributable to Sea's ordinary shareholders ($490.8 million, the nine-month $1,359.5 million less the first-half $868.7 million in Sea's Q2 release) divided by diluted earnings per share of $0.78 implies about 629 million diluted shares for the quarter itself; that would give a market cap of about $61.3 billion, 1.9x EV/Revenue, 15.7x EV/Adjusted EBITDA and a P/E of about 33.9x (our arithmetic), so the choice of count does not change the verdict.
| Market cap → enterprise value | Q3 2026 |
|---|---|
| Share price (period-end) | $97.36 |
| Shares outstanding (weighted-average diluted, nine-month basis) | 633,066 thousand |
| Market capitalization | ~$61.64B |
| Plus: convertible notes (debt) | nil |
| Less: cash and cash equivalents | $2,905.3M |
| Enterprise value | ~$58.73B |
Adding Sea's borrowings of $1,216.5 million (current $454.2 million plus non-current $762.3 million) would raise EV to about $59.95B and EV/Revenue to 2.0x; the other peers' EVs include their debt, so this is the main basis difference to keep in mind.
| Peer-multiple sanity check | Q2 2026 (TTM) | Q3 2026 (TTM) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market capitalization | ~$60.80B | ~$61.64B | up 1.4% |
| Revenue (TTM) | ~$27,723M | ~$30,319M | up 9.4% |
| Price/Sales | ~2.19x | ~2.03x | down |
| Price/Book | ~4.71x | ~4.63x | down |
| Total Adjusted EBITDA (TTM, former definition) | ~$3,613M | ~$3,722M | up 3.0% |
| EV/EBITDA» | ~16.1x | ~15.8x | down |
Every multiple eased: market cap grew 1.4% while trailing revenue grew 9.4% and trailing Adjusted EBITDA 3.0%, so the quarter's re-rating is a de-rating, not new fundamental weakness. Trailing net income is $1,809.7 million (Q4 2025 to Q3 2026, including non-controlling interests), against $1,682.2 million a quarter earlier.
Sea's Stock Ended the Quarter Up 1.6% After Falling 14% in September
The ADS closed Q3 2026 at $97.36, up 1.6% from Q2's $95.83, its second quarterly gain after Q4 2025's 28.6% drop and Q1 2026's 35.1% drop (quarter-end closes: Q3 2025 $178.73, then $127.57, $82.81, $95.83 and $97.36). Inside the quarter the path was uneven: $106.74 at the end of July and $113.48 at the end of August, then $97.36 at the end of September, a 14.2% fall in the last month (month-end closes). The ADS is 47.8% below its August 2025 month-end peak of $186.54 and 45.5% below a year earlier, while the two-year window from $94.28 on September 30, 2024 is up 3.3%, almost entirely a round trip through 2025's run-up and 2026's partial recovery. Sea's materials do not identify a cause for the September fall, and none is asserted here.
Trailing Quarters: Total GAAP Revenue and Total Adjusted EBITDA
| Quarter | Total GAAP Revenue | Total Adjusted EBITDA (former definition) | Total Adjusted EBITDA (new definition) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q4 2024 | $4,950.4M | +$590.9M | not restated in the sources used |
| Q1 2025 | $4,841.1M | +$946.5M | not restated in the sources used |
| Q2 2025 | $5,259.5M | +$829.2M | not restated in the sources used |
| Q3 2025 | $5,986.0M | +$874.3M | +$722.3M |
| Q4 2025 | $6,851.9M | +$787.1M | not restated in the sources used |
| Q1 2026 | $7,097.5M | +$1,034.3M | not restated in the sources used |
| Q2 2026 | $7,787.8M | +$917.2M | +$896.9M |
| Q3 2026 | $8,582.3M | +$983.3M | +$931.3M |
Revenue growth slowed to 43.4% in Q3 2026 from 48.1% in Q2. On the former definition, Total Adjusted EBITDA growth was +33.2% at Q4 2025, +9.3% at Q1 2026, +10.6% at Q2 and +12.5% at Q3, a second straight uptick from the Q1 low, but still running at under a third of revenue growth (12.5% against 43.4%).
Sea Limited's Third Quarter 2026 Results press release of November 10, 2026, including the unaudited statements of operations, balance sheets, cash flows and segment information, and its Third Quarter 2026 results presentation. No interim footnote package exists for a quarter that is not a fiscal year-end, per Sea's status as a foreign private issuer. FY2025 capital expenditure of $524.5 million is from Sea's FY2025 Form 20-F; second-quarter 2026 comparatives are from Sea's Second Quarter 2026 results.