It’s been nearly a year and a half since e-commerce stocks crashed from their pandemic euphoria highs.

But investors are seeing results from cost-cutting efforts — sending three global e-comm giants soaring this year.

Travel ITIN: Three continents and three companies in one article. Buckle up.

🇸🇬 Sea (NYSE:SE). The Southeast Asian gaming and e-commerce leader made drastic moves early on — laying off 3.5K employees, exiting major markets and cutting $700M+ in quarterly sales and marketing expenses. And here are the results:

In March, Sea reported its first-ever quarterly net profit — months ahead of its target.

• Yesterday, Sea announced a 5% pay increase for most employees — a sign that the worst may be over.

🇦🇷 MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI). Last week, the “Amazon of South America” reported first-quarter earnings showing $201M in net income — triple that of last year and far ahead of the $154M analyst estimate.

• Mercado is benefiting from the continued move towards e-commerce in South America and the bankruptcy of its Brazilian competitor Americanas SA.
• While others are in layoff mode, Mercado plans to grow its headcount by over 30% (13K jobs) this year.

🇨🇦 Shopify (NYSE:SHOP). Last week, the Canadian e-commerce software giant announced another 20% round of layoffs — and said it would sell its logistics business, ending its four-year venture into the fulfillment business.

Good read: What went wrong with Shopify’s logistics business?