As the Q1 earnings season comes to a close, it’s time to take stock of this quarter’s best and worst performers in the online marketplace industry, including Sea (NYSE: SE) and its peers.

Marketplaces have existed for centuries. Where once it was a main street in a small town or a mall in the suburbs, sellers benefitted from proximity to one another because they could draw customers by offering convenience and selection. Today, a myriad of online marketplaces fulfill that same role, aggregating large customer bases, which attracts commission-paying sellers, generating flywheel scale effects that feed back into further customer acquisition.

The 12 online marketplace stocks we track reported a satisfactory Q1. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.8% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 0.5% above.

Luckily, online marketplace stocks have performed well with share prices up 14.9% on average since the latest earnings results.

Best Q1: Sea (NYSE: SE)

Founded in 2009 and a publicly traded company since 2017, Sea (NYSE: SE) started as a gaming platform and has since expanded to offer a variety of services such as e-commerce, digital payments, and financial services across Southeast Asia.

Sea reported revenues of $7.33 billion, up 43.2% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 10.1%. Overall, it was a stunning quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and solid growth in its users.

“We have had a strong start to the year. 2026 is a year where we are leaning in to deepen our competitive moats, while maintaining financial discipline. Our strong revenue growth reflects the effectiveness of these investments, and we are already seeing unit economics start to improve for some of these initiatives. We believe this is the right approach to maximize long-term value, given the significant runway for growth still ahead of us in our markets,” said Forrest Li, Sea’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Sea achieved the biggest analyst estimate beat of the whole group. The company reported 72.6 million users, up 12.4% year on year. Unsurprisingly, the stock is up 28.5% since reporting and currently trades at $109.03.

Read why we think that Sea is one of the best online marketplace stocks, our full report is free.

EverQuote (NASDAQ: EVER)

Aiming to simplify a once complicated process, EverQuote (NASDAQ: EVER) is an online insurance marketplace where consumers can compare and purchase various types of insurance from different providers

EverQuote reported revenues of $190.9 million, up 14.5% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 5.7%. The business had a stunning quarter with EBITDA guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations.

EverQuote achieved the highest guidance raise among its peers. The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 69.5% since reporting. It currently trades at $24.76.

Is now the time to buy EverQuote? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Weakest Q1: Shutterstock (NYSE: SSTK)

Originally featuring a library that included many of founder Jon Oringer’s photos, Shutterstock (NYSE: SSTK) is now a digital platform where customers can license and use hundreds of millions of pieces of content.

Shutterstock reported revenues of $199.2 million, down 17.9% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 10.1%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

Shutterstock delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates and slowest revenue growth in the group. As expected, the stock is down 50.7% since the results and currently trades at $8.68.

Read our full analysis of Shutterstock’s results here.

Cars.com (NYSE: CARS)

Originally started as a joint venture between several media companies including The Washington Post and The New York Times, Cars.com (NYSE: CARS) is a digital marketplace that connects new and used car buyers and sellers.

Cars.com reported revenues of $180.2 million, flat year on year. This result met analysts’ expectations. It was a very strong quarter as it also put up a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

The company reported 19,390 active buyers, up 0.7% year on year. The stock is down 1.5% since reporting and currently trades at $11.02.

Read our full, actionable report on Cars.com here, it’s free.

Instacart (NASDAQ: CART)

Powering more than one billion grocery orders since its founding, Instacart (NASDAQ: CART) is an online grocery shopping and delivery platform that partners with retailers to help customers shop from local stores through its app or website.

Instacart reported revenues of $1.02 billion, up 13.6% year on year. This print beat analysts’ expectations by 1.2%. Overall, it was a strong quarter as it also recorded an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

The stock is up 9.1% since reporting and currently trades at $47.72.

Read our full, actionable report on Instacart here, it’s free.

Market Update

Late in 2025 into early 2026, there was hand-wringing around artificial intelligence. For software companies, the fear was that AI would erode pricing power and compress margins as new tools made it easier to replicate what once required expensive enterprise platforms. Crypto investors had their own version of the same anxiety: if AI agents could trade, allocate capital, and manage wallets autonomously, what exactly was the long-term value of today’s crypto infrastructure?

These concerns triggered a noticeable rotation away from these sectors and into safer havens. But markets rarely dwell on one narrative for long. Spring 2026 came, and the focus shifted abruptly from technological disruption to geopolitical risk. The US’ conflict with Iran became the dominant driver of market psychology, and when geopolitics takes center stage, the script changes quickly. Investors stop debating growth rates and start worrying about oil supply, inflation, and global stability.

Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Top 5 Growth Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate.