Sea share price

In 2017, Singapore's Sea Limited debuted on the New York Stock Exchange. Prior to its IPO, venture capital from around the globe was pouring into Southeast ...

Everyone knows the digital economy is huge and growing in Southeast Asia, and I think the performance of these two companies neatly captures the spectrum of risks and opportunities in the sector. Grabbing market share is no sure thing, especially as the landscape becomes more competitive, and tapping U.S. stock exchanges provides capital but also exposes companies to market pressures from which they were previously insulated when they were being carried by venture capital. Like Sea, Grab is also losing money: $2.75 billion in 2020 and $3.56 billion in 2021, much of it from incentives paid out to attract more customers and drivers. From the fourth quarter of 2020 to the fourth quarter of 2021 active users grew by a more modest 43.4 million, including an additional 4.1 million paying users. Grab, in partnership with Singtel, was also recently awarded a digital banking license by MAS. But unlike Sea, the user base is shrinking, from 24.5 million in 2020 to 24.1 million in 2021. Ride-hailing app Grab went public on the Nasdaq at the end of 2021 via a financial vehicle called a SPAC. I have never really understood what a SPAC is or why they exist, and questioned in a piece last year the wisdom of Grab using one to go public. In 2020, the company’s net loss was $1.6 billion or a loss of $3.39 per share. So even though the stock is being hammered right now, there’s still a lot of upside. When the pandemic hit Sea found itself in a favorable position, as a house-bound world was driven into the arms of e-commerce and gaming platforms in ever greater numbers. On the other hand, Sea still has a lot of growing to do in other areas. But Sea, which owns mobile gaming company Garena and online shopping platform Shopee, was one of the first to get listed in the United States. The stock did OK, trading around $45 in February 2020. From the fourth quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2020, active users of Sea’s gaming apps increased from 354.7 million to 610.6 million, a net increase of 255.9 million.