Southeast Asian tech titan Sea Limited entered 2026 with higher profits and a 48% surge in revenue, as rapid growth in its fintech and gaming businesses validated its long-running bid to diversify its verticals.
The firm’s net income rose to $438.2 million in the first three months of 2026 from $410.8 million a year earlier, while revenue surged to $7.1 billion from $4.8 billion. Adjusted EBITDA also crossed the $1-billion mark in a quarter for the first time in the tech firm’s history, up from $946.5 million a year ago.
“We have had a strong start to the year. 2026 is a year where we are leaning in to deepen our competitive moats while maintaining financial discipline. Our strong revenue growth reflects the effectiveness of these investments, and we are already seeing unit economics start to improve for some of these initiatives. We believe this is the right approach to maximise long-term value, given the significant runway for growth still ahead of us in our markets,” said Forrest Li, Sea Ltd’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
The strongest revenue growth driver continued to be its e-commerce arm Shopee, whose gross merchandise value (GMV) climbed 30% year-on-year to $37.3 billion. Revenue from the unit jumped to $5.1 billion from $3.5 billion previously.
But margins at Shopee continued to tighten in Q1.
Shopee’s adjusted EBITDA fell to $223.2 million from $264.4 million a year earlier despite the sharp rise in revenue.
Despite the margin pressure during the quarter, Li said Shopee is still “on track to deliver the 2026 guidance” which is an annual GMV growth of around 25% year-on-year, with full-year adjusted EBITDA “no lower than 2025 in absolute dollar terms”.
Sea Ltd’s digital financial services arm Monee, meanwhile, remained one of the company’s fastest-growing businesses.
Revenue from the segment rose more than 50% year-on-year to $1.2 billion, while loans outstanding ballooned to $9.9 billion from $5.8 billion previously. Adjusted EBITDA climbed to $275.2 million from $241.4 million.
Asset quality at Monee remained steady during the quarter, with non-performing loans holding at 1.1% despite aggressive loan growth.
Gaming arm Garena also delivered a rebound, helped by stronger user engagement and bookings growth.
Garena’s bookings rose to $931.4 million from $775.4 million a year ago, while revenue increased to $696.6 million. Adjusted EBITDA from the unit climbed to $573.6 million from $458.2 million.
The stronger showing from Garena gives Sea Ltd another major cash-generating business as the company continues investing heavily in Shopee and Monee, highlighting how its fintech and gaming units are playing a bigger role in supporting earnings amid ongoing margin pressure in e-commerce.
