As the largest e-commerce and fintech company in Southeast Asia, Sea Limited (SE 1.32%) may not be on the radar of most U.S. investors. That’s understandable, as most of its business takes place in seven Southeast Asian countries and Brazil. Even though investors may know its popular mobile game Free Fire, they may not associate it with this company.

That could change as they become aware of the stock’s 130% price gain over the last year. With the struggles of two of its business segments mostly behind the company, it might be a good time to consider buying Sea Limited shares as it continues to move higher.

Image source: Getty Images.

What is Sea Limited?

Sea Limited is a tech conglomerate made up of three business segments. Its original business, gaming company Garena, develops online games and organizes and hosts esports events. Although most of its business takes place in Southeast Asia, its games are available worldwide.

Its two other segments, e-commerce company Shopee and fintech enterprise Monee, work in conjunction with one another and separately. Shopee is the leading e-commerce company in Southeast Asia, while Monee is a major player in Southeast Asian fintech. Along with helping customers buy on Shopee, Monee provides mobile wallet, payment processing, credit, banking, and Insurtech services in Shopee’s major markets.

These three businesses drove massive stock gains during the pandemic’s height. Although Monee’s business has remained solid, the pandemic’s wind-down contributed to the failure of Shopee’s European and Latin American expansion efforts. Consequently, it mostly pulled out of all of these markets, except for Brazil. Shopee has since taken cues from Amazon and MercadoLibre, investing in logistics to bolster its competitive advantage.

The end of the pandemic’s height also led to fewer people playing Garena games, and a ban on Free Fire in India worsened its slump. Fortunately, the company has revived the popularity of Free Fire, particularly in India, where the country’s government recently lifted the ban on Free Fire. Consequently, the Garena segment has returned to growth.

Sea Limited’s financials

Now that all three segments are back in growth mode, the company’s financials and stock are moving in the right direction.

In the first half of 2024, revenue of $10 billion grew by 34% compared to the same period last year. In comparison, expenses rose 24%. That led to a net income attributable to shareholders of $809 million in the first two quarters of 2025, up from just $58 million for the year-ago period.

The company did not mention explicit revenue guidance, though analysts forecast 29% revenue growth for 2025, indicating a modest growth slowdown if the company meets those expectations.

Admittedly, its struggles are not entirely over. When compared to its closing high of around $367 per share in October 2021, Sea Limited still sells at a 52% discount to its all-time high.

Failure to turn a profit in prior quarters also led to no trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. Still, investors may perceive its 45 forward P/E ratio as reasonable considering the company’s robust revenue growth and rising profits. Ultimately, such conditions indicate that Sea Limited could stay on a growth path for years to come.

Sea Limited is not done growing

Despite considerable gains over the last year, Sea Limited’s stock should continue to move higher.

Indeed, the company’s pandemic missteps and the corresponding stock price decline may deter investors. Nonetheless, Sea Limited’s strategic pivots indicate it has learned from its past mistakes. As a result, the stock is again showing how it can rise when all three segments perform well.

As the company’s games expand their reach and cement its e-commerce and fintech leadership in Southeast Asia, the stock should remain on a long-term growth trajectory for a long time to come.

When thinking about quantum computing, names such as Nvidia, Alphabet, Microsoft, or Amazon might come to mind. Each of these companies has developed custom chips and software focused on quantum computing technology — providing them with even more opportunity to dominate the artificial intelligence (AI) landscape.

But what if I told you that over the last year, Nvidia is the only stock in this peer set that has generated a better total return than the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite?

Beyond the megacap technology stocks, IonQ (IONQ -0.26%) has emerged as a budding opportunity in the quantum computing realm. Over the last year, IonQ stock has risen by a staggering 432% — absolutely crushing the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes, which have risen by 11% and 13%, respectively.

Is IonQ stock set up to continue beating the market? Read on to find out.

IonQ stock is scorching hot right now, but…

It’s important to understand that when a new megatrend emerges, individual opportunities underneath the broader umbrella tend to follow. What I mean by that is throughout the AI revolution, investors have (for the most part) been following the same subsectors such as enterprise software, cloud computing infrastructure, and semiconductor chips.

While quantum computing is an enormous market opportunity, it’s not exactly scaling at the same pace as chips or software right now. For this reason, I tend to view quantum computing as more of a trendy, new pocket of the AI realm that appears promising but has little traction to prove it.

IONQ data by YCharts

Not even a year ago, IonQ was trading near penny stock levels. Still, despite a nearly sevenfold rise in its share price, IonQ stock is “only” $45. Well, smart investors understand that share price is only one parameter when assessing a company’s valuation.

Let’s dig into IonQ’s financial profile to help assess if the stock is overvalued or trading for a reasonable price.

Image source: Getty Images.

… does the valuation make any sense?

Over the last year, IonQ generated $43 million in revenue. Sure, the company’s sales trajectory might look encouraging, but look at that cash burn. While raking in tens of millions in revenue, IonQ burned through more than $300 million — and the trend is getting worse!

IONQ Revenue (TTM) data by YCharts

Despite this inverse relationship between sales and profits, IonQ’s market cap has continued to soar. At an $11.7 billion market capitalization, IonQ currently trades for a price-to-sales (P/S) multiple of 238. That is almost tenfold the P/S ratio of Nvidia.

Is IonQ stock a buy right now?

I think IonQ is a speculative stock to own and its valuation seems unjustified to me. While the stock has outperformed the broader market over the last year, I suspect much of the rise in the share price has to do with optimistic narratives surrounding quantum computing coupled with investor fatigue in the usual suspects (i.e., the “Magnificent Seven”).

While I’m intrigued by quantum computing, it’s not an area that’s enticed me enough to follow the momentum currently fueling IonQ stock to new highs. Instead, owning stocks such as Nvidia, Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, or even IBM can provide investors with exposure to quantum computing while also achieving some level of insulation since you will be diversified in other areas of the broader AI market, too.

I would pass on IonQ stock right now. Given its parabolic rise in such a short time frame, I think it’s more likely the stock will take a breather rather than continue crushing the market.