We recently published a list of 10 Best Foreign Stocks to Buy According to Billionaires. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Sea Limited (NYSE:SE) stands against other best foreign stocks to invest in.
The global economy demonstrated resilience in 2024, maintaining a steady annualized growth rate of 3.2% in the latter half of the year. However, recent economic indicators suggest that global growth may be losing momentum. The OECD forecasts that global growth will be 3.1% in 2025 and 3% in 2026, compared to 3.2% in 2024. The marginal fall in growth is because of rising trade restrictions across economies, strict policy updates that often upend investment opportunities, and uncertain household spending. Although growth in the United States has been very strong as of late, it is expected to slow down to 2.2% this year and 1.6% in 2026. Economic growth will be weak in the Euro Zone as well, with OECD projecting real GDP growth of 1.0% in 2025 and 1.2% in 2026. China follows a similar trend, with growth declining to 4.4% in 2026 from 4.8% in the current year.
In the midst of stagnant global economic forecasts, Michael Hartnett, an analyst at Bank of America, cautioned investors that the United States stock market is coming off its recent highs, and is no longer benefiting from high fiscal spending, lenient immigration policies, and robust AI budgets. The analyst noted that Chinese competitors are now successfully producing large language models for under $6 million, which is a fraction of the billions spent by American firms to create the same tech. Similarly, Manish Kabra of Societe Generale observed that Chinese developments in AI are disrupting investor confidence and making them question spending by American tech firms.
BofA’s Michael Hartnett noted that investors are not paying attention to foreign markets like Japan and Europe, where stocks are cheaper, and value stocks are ahead of their growth counterparts. He pointed out that Japan’s Nikkei 225 has climbed 9% in the past year, while the European index displayed outperformance at the beginning of 2025.
Others also share a similar sentiment about foreign stocks. For example, David Herro, partner and portfolio manager at Harris Associates, joined CNBC on January 15, 2025, and commented that US stocks are largely overvalued, so it is only logical to look for opportunities elsewhere. This is where foreign markets come into play. According to Herro, fundamentals of overseas stocks are okay, and while they may not be robust, these stocks are growing in mid-single digits with attractive valuations. These valuation characteristics make it almost impossible not to consider these foreign stocks and increase international portfolio exposure. He noted that companies based out of Europe are not just doing business there, but their operations are spread worldwide. For cheap valuations, this is a huge plus. For long-term investors, he suggested that they should mainly focus on company fundamentals rather than the macroeconomic environment that they operate in because that’s how you make money.
A person livestreaming their gameplay on a mobile device with integrated payment options.
Our Methodology
For this article, we referred to Insider Monkey’s database containing billionaires’ stock picks and chose the top 10 companies headquartered outside the United States that were most popular with billionaire investors in Q4 of 2024. We have also mentioned the value of billionaire holdings for further insight. The stocks are ranked in ascending order based on the number of billionaire investors.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Sea Limited (NYSE:SE)
Number of Billionaire Investors: 17
Value of Billionaire Holdings: $2.44 billion
Sea Limited (NYSE:SE) is a Singapore-based company operating in digital entertainment, e-commerce, and financial services across Southeast Asia, Latin America, and beyond. It operates multiple platforms: Garena for gaming, Shopee for online shopping, and SeaMoney for payments and credit services. On February 21, the company partnered with OpenAI to enhance Shopee’s shopping experience with AI. As a launch partner for OpenAI’s Operator in Southeast Asia and Brazil, Shopee will refine the AI agent to make online shopping more intuitive. It is one of the best foreign stocks to keep an eye on.
On March 7, Barclays raised Sea Limited (NYSE:SE)’s price target to $182 from $148, keeping an Overweight rating on the shares. The stock has jumped 134.5% in the past year. Barclays analysts observed that Sea’s e-commerce business grew 23.5% year-over-year in Q4, beating expectations by 7.7%. Revenue increased by 28.75% during the fourth quarter, and e-commerce profits were 70% higher than expected. Additionally, the company’s goal of reaching a 2-3% profit margin now seems within reach, with 20% GMV growth expected in 2025.
In 2024, Sea’s three business segments bounced back to strong double-digit growth and surpassed expectations. It was also the company’s second straight year of profitability, with each division reporting positive adjusted EBITDA. Shopee had an especially strong year, with GMV soaring 28% year-over-year to exceed $100 billion. The platform turned a profit in both Asia and Brazil, and the company is confident about sustaining this momentum. Sea’s digital financial services also took off, with its loan book growing over 60% year-over-year to more than $5 billion by the end of 2024, making it one of the biggest consumer lending businesses in Southeast Asia. Garena’s growth was led by Free Fire’s big comeback, with the game’s annual bookings increasing 34% year-over-year. Sea expects both user numbers and bookings to keep growing at a double-digit pace in 2025. By the end of 2024, the company had $10.4 billion in cash and investments, adding $478.6 million in the last quarter.
Overall, SE ranks 7th on our list of the best foreign stocks to buy according to billionaires. While we acknowledge the potential of SE to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that certain AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than SE but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.