The Zhitong Finance App learned that since Sea (SE.US)'s latest second-quarter results fell short of market expectations, investors were worried about the company's prospects. Following a sharp decline on Tuesday, the stock price fell more than 3% in pre-market hours on Wednesday. Citibank analysts have even bluntly stated that the Singaporean tech giant's “brutal battle” may have just begun.
Citi downgraded Sea's rating from “buy” to “neutral,” and lowered its target price from $98 to $50. The bank's analyst Alicia Yap pointed out that the company's “brutal battle” to defend its market share may have only just begun.
Yap said the company is undergoing a strategic shift. Sea management expects continued “accelerated” investment to defend market share in the face of increased competition. This is the right thing to do, but the lack of visibility into the effectiveness of the strategy is worrying.
Furthermore, the increase in investment may have a negative impact on the EBITDA of the company's e-commerce platform Shopee and cause the company's overall profit to turn into a loss over the next few quarters.
Similarly, Bank of America analyst Sachin Salgaonkar believes that in the short term, SEA's weak revenue, increased SG&A fees, and other investments will affect performance, but Shopee is expected to become stronger in the medium term. The bank lowered Sea's target price from $73 to $53, maintaining a “neutral” rating.
Barclays, on the other hand, is more optimistic. The bank's analysts said that although the performance fell slightly short of expectations, what was really surprising was that the company shifted its focus from profit to growth, and hinted that both Shopee and the Group were prepared to bear losses.
Although Barclays “drastically” lowered expectations, it said that Sea's stock price was at its lowest level in four years and maintained a “increase in holdings” rating.