What Happened?
Shares of e-commerce and gaming company Sea (NYSE: SE) fell 5.2% in the afternoon session after the major indices continued to retreat (Nasdaq -1.5%, S&P 500 -1.2%) amid profit-taking and renewed concerns about tariffs.
The ruling has caused market uncertainty, with the tariffs remaining in place pending appeal. This news contributed to a general sell-off in tech stocks to start the week.
Adding to the negative market sentiment, September is also known for being a historically challenging month for Wall Street. The downward move occurred despite some neutral commentary from Bank of America, which raised its price target on Sea Limited to $200 from $180 but maintained a "Neutral" rating on the shares. The firm noted that competitive intensity in Southeast Asia is stable, with Sea's e-commerce platform Shopee continuing to gain market share.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy Sea? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
What Is The Market Telling Us
Sea’s shares are quite volatile and have had 15 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 20 days ago when the stock gained 3.2% on the news that markets continued to rally as the latest inflation data reinforced expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut as soon as September.
The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for July showed inflation holding steady, reinforcing market expectations that the Federal Reserve could begin cutting interest rates as soon as September. Lower interest rates generally stimulate the economy by making borrowing cheaper for consumers and businesses. This can lead to increased consumer spending and e-commerce activity, which directly benefits online retail and marketplace companies. The positive economic outlook fueled a broad-based rally, pushing the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to new record highs and lifting most growth-oriented technology stocks.
Sea is up 69.1% since the beginning of the year, and at $177.30 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $188.29 from August 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Sea’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,128.
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