Sea Ltd. early Tuesday delivered a surprise profit as it crushed expectations for sales and earnings in the fourth quarter. SE stock jumped on the news.
Sea earned 72 cents a share on revenue of $3.45 billion in the December quarter. Analysts had expected Sea to report a loss of 64 cents a share on revenue of $3.05 billion. In the year-earlier period, Sea lost $1.12 cents on sales of $3.22 billion.
Singapore-based Sea operates one of the largest e-commerce and digital entertainment platforms in Southeast Asia. It also provides financial services.
"We are starting 2023 on a much stronger footing," Chief Executive Forrest Li said in a news release. "Our decisive pivot to focus on efficiency and profitability since late last year is already driving meaningful bottom line improvements."
He added, "As we continue this transition and maintain our focus on sustainable growth, our approach is to do less but do it better as we serve our users across our digital ecosystem."
SE Stock Jumps On Q4 Report
SE stock surged 21.8%, closing at 80.06 on the stock market today.
Also, SE stock ranks No. 15 out of 58 stocks in IBD's Retail-Internet industry group, according to IBD Stock Checkup. It has a subpar IBD Composite Rating of 38 out of 99.
IBD's Composite Rating is a blend of key fundamental and technical metrics to help investors gauge a stock's strengths. The best growth stocks have a Composite Rating of 90 or better.
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