Sea Ltd (SE) Surged Due To Improved Profitability

Lakehouse Capital, a Sydney-based investment manager, released its “Lakehouse Global Growth Fund” annual investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The year was strong for the fund despite volatility, backed by the new US administration. The fund returned 33.4% net of fees and expenses compared to 18.4% for its benchmark. Since its inception in December 2017, the Fund has returned 254.4% compared to 139.9% for its benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index, Net Total Returns (AUD). In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.

In its second-quarter 2025 investor letter, Lakehouse Global Growth Fund highlighted stocks such as Sea Limited (NYSE:SE). Sea Limited (NYSE:SE) is a consumer internet company headquartered in Singapore. The one-month return of Sea Limited (NYSE:SE) was -1.05%, and its shares gained 95.78% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On September 26, 2025, Sea Limited (NYSE:SE) stock closed at $184.58 per share, with a market capitalization of $109.275 billion.

Lakehouse Global Growth Fund stated the following regarding Sea Limited (NYSE:SE) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter:

“Southeast Asia’s leading e-commerce platform, Sea Limited (NYSE:SE), was our largest contributor for the year as the company delivered an impressive combination of accelerating growth and improving profitability. At a group level, revenue rose 30% year-on-year to US$17.9 billion and operating income saw a material turnaround from a US$38.8 million loss to a US$875.2 million profit. Its core e-commerce platform, Shopee, emerged stronger following a period of elevated marketing investment, which drove higher order volumes, improved take rates, and an acceleration in top line growth. Notably, regulatory pressures in Indonesia have abated, and competition across the region has moderated, with peers now taking a more rational approach to take rates, paving the way for a more favourable industry structure going forward.

Beyond e-commerce, Sea’s digital financial services business (Monee) and digital gaming platform (Garena) also performed well. Monee saw its loan book grow 77% year-on-year while simultaneously improving the proportion of non-performing loans, which contributed to revenue growth of 44% to US$2.7 billion. For Garena, although reported revenue declined slightly, it was encouraging to see bookings increase 51% year-on-year, supported by stabilising engagement and improved monetisation. Overall, it was a very positive year, and we remain patient holders. Whilst not as well-known as some global peers, Sea continues to benefit from the steady shift toward online retail and digital services across a region where e-commerce penetration remains in its early stages and below global averages.”

In another article, we covered Sea Limited (NYSE:SE) and shared the list of high growth international stocks to buy. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.