Sea Group reports net loss of US$425.6 million in 3Q2020 despite stronger performance of digital entertainment and e-commerce segments. Sounds so contradictory. Why net loss when they did better?

Normal for growth companies in the early stage

Let me elaborate more about the net loss. A lot of growth companies nowadays are loss-making but it's mainly due to the sales and marketing expenses. If you take a look at their last 4 quaters, they've all been net loses as well. The great companies are doing all they can to market themselves (see Shopee making Ronaldo an ambassador) in the early stages so they can gain majority of the market share.

If you compare the likes of Shopee, Lazada and other e-commere in SG/other SEA countries, you will know how fast Shopee has grown and captured more and more users onto their platform. Once they gain enough market share, this S&M costs will decrease as time goes on.

All of their sectors in Gaming (Garena), E-commerce (Shopee) and Digital Finance (SeaMoney) are steadily growing too.

(Side note: I am vested in SEA.)