$Sea (SE.US)$ Maybank KE lift Sea's tp to USD110 from USD96 ...

Maybank KE lift Sea's tp to USD110 from USD96 and reiterate BUY; Raise earnings est. by 2-9% E-commerce competition remains benign, leading to monetisation initiatives such as seller take-rate increases (1-3%) and advertising growth, which in turn fast forwards margin improvement.

They raise their 2030 e-commerce Adj. EBITDA to GMV margins to 2.7% by 2030 (from 1.9% previously). They think Shopee is comfortably positioned to exceed its long-term e-commerce Adj. EBITDA to GMV margins target of 2-3%. However, they think the company is likely to cap ecommerce margins to keep the space competitive to maintain its dominance and/or counter entry of aggressive new entrants.

Absolute EBITDA though can expand, helped by elevated GMV growth momentum besides lifting growth of DFS business, which is highly tied to e-commerce, in their view. MIBG Adj. EBITDA estimates are 10-14% above the Street.