MeritValue

Sea Ltd

SEdata completeness 88%11 fiscal years on file

Data notes: no data for concept 'netInvestmentIncome'; no data for concept 'gainsOnRealEstateSales'; no data for concept 'realEstateImpairment'; no data for concept 'dividendsPaid'

The thesis, from the filings

Sea Ltd earns about 11% on invested capital, but has diluted owners by 20% over 5 years — worth asking whether the growth reaches owners. The cash-flow models don't apply cleanly here — the ledger says why below.Whether it’s worth owning at today’s price is the last question — and yours to answer, below.

i. The business — what you’d actually own
FigureFY 2021FY 2022FY 2023FY 2024FY 2025
Revenue$9.96B1$12.4B2$11.5B3$14.7B3$19.6B3
Net income−$2.05B4−$1.65B5$150.7M6$444.3M6$1.58B6
Operating cash flow$208.6M7−$1.06B8$2.08B9$3.28B9$5.02B9
Capital expenditure$772.2M10$924.2M11$241.6M12$318.2M12$513.8M12
Free cash flow (derived)−$563.5M7−$1.98B8$1.84B9$2.96B9$4.51B9
Total debt—————
Cash & equivalents$9.25B13$6.03B14$2.81B15$2.41B16$4.16B16
Diluted shares532.7M558.1M594.4M604.7M638.2M

Superscripts are receipts. Each links to the SEC filing the number came from (full list at the bottom).

ii. Your slice — ownership made literal
If you owned
shares
Net assets behind them
$196.27
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
$24.73
Free cash flow it threw off
$70.68
Debt you’d be carrying
—

10 shares is a claim on $196.27 of net worth that earned you $24.73 and generated $70.68 of cash last year.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
11% avg · 5y
FY21 —FY22 —FY23 6%FY24 8%FY25 20%

It earned an average 11% on invested capital over 5 years. Compare that to what it costs to fund the business.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
+20% shares · 5y

Share count is up 20% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it.

reading capital allocation →

Signals, not verdicts — read from the filings above. Numbers don’t prove a moat; they show its footprint. You decide.

iv. What it’s worth —

Different models answer different questions — which to trust when →

Sources — the receipts
  1. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001140361-24-022429 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001193125-25-084311 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001140361-26-015366 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001140361-24-022429 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001193125-25-084311 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001140361-26-015366 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001140361-24-022429 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001193125-25-084311 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001140361-26-015366 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001140361-24-022429 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001193125-25-084311 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001140361-26-015366 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 20-F · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001140361-23-017021 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  14. 20-F · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001140361-24-022429 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  15. 20-F · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001193125-25-084311 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  16. 20-F · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001140361-26-015366 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)