Oguz Erkan
Investor, Founder of Capitalist Letters
MercadoLibre's margin pressure is temporary, and substantial margin expansion with continued growth should follow once it fades. The stock fell on higher capex, weaker margins and worries about Sea Limited, but its dominant full-stack Latin American marketplace is intact and Sea is nowhere near strong enough to compete. Fast fintech growth books loan-loss provisions upfront while revenue comes gradually. It trades at 32x 2027 earnings; the $2,200 consensus target implies 18% upside. x.comÂ
MercadoLibre's commerce and fintech revenue growth underpins the view that its shares are undervalued at current prices. The attached chart shows quarterly commerce services revenue reaching $4.3 billion and fintech revenue $4.4 billion in June 2026, up from $769 million and $467 million in March 2021. x.comÂ
MercadoLibre looks cheap for its projected growth. Revenue is estimated to rise from $28.89 billion in 2025 to $65.81 billion in 2028, a 32% annual rate, with EPS growing from $39.40 to $90.14, leaving the stock at 18.1x 2028 EPS. Forecasting revenue, margins and earnings that far out is not easy, though. x.comÂ
MercadoLibre's collapsing margins and earnings make its 45-times-earnings valuation look like a value trap. It faces intense competition, and less of its revenue reaches the bottom line; falling earnings make the stock more expensive even as its price falls. Nu Holdings trades at 17 times earnings and Inter & Co at 7 times, with both growing revenue and earnings robustly. Selling MercadoLibre to build positions in companies with better fundamentals is under consideration. x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
MercadoLibre seems cheap at roughly 3x enterprise value to sales given revenue is up about 700% while its stock price is back at 2020 levels. It is hard to see how the multiple can keep compressing. x.comÂ
MercadoLibre is cheap against its cash earnings, at 24x trailing and 16x next year's, while retailers usually get 20x. Fair value runs $2,075 to $2,642, or 20x next year's cash earnings give or take 12%, putting the $1,869 price 10% under the low end; it would be expensive above $2,328. The read leans on the forecast, with forward earnings 51% above trailing, and is a valuation view only, with no fundamental work. x.comÂ
Political uncertainty and Amazon competition have held MercadoLibre's stock back despite a humming business. The company is great and the stock deserves to turn, but at roughly 45 times earnings and only about 12% gained over five years, it has remained a difficult stock to own. x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
MercadoLibre's long-term thesis looks intact: heavy reinvestment is holding down near-term margins, but if it drives continued growth and eventually operating leverage, margins and earnings could expand substantially. The stock was extremely expensive five years ago, and its valuation has compressed significantly since. As with Amazon, the market doesn't trust the spending yet, but Meta showed how fast that can change. x.com x.comÂ
MercadoLibre looks fairly valued to slightly undervalued once Commerce, Payments and Credit are valued separately, since a single DCF doesn't work for the business. The scenarios give $1,020 in the bear case, $1,980 in the base case and $3,515 in the bull case. x.comÂ
MercadoLibre can tread water for a long time because it constantly has to spend to defend its revenue base. It is a very capital-intensive business trading at more than 40x forward earnings, leaving it vulnerable if revenue ever slows. x.comÂ
MercadoLibre is compounding faster than the market gives it credit for, trading at 30x forward earnings with 37% estimated 2027 EPS growth per @DimitryNakhla's list, below its growth rate on a PEG basis. FICO shows the same at 25x with 27% growth, part of a quality discount broader than most people realize. x.comÂ