Deep Sail Capital
Founder & CIO of Deep Sail Capital, Long/Short GARP, Quality/Growth/Micro-Caps
MercadoLibre's business results should begin inflecting as credit portfolio growth slows now that the book has reached scale. An excellent outcome in Brazil improves the economic backdrop, and the stock sat at the technical bottom of its consolidation wedge. The economic backdrop, forward results and technicals all look very bullish. x.com x.comÂ
MercadoLibre's returns are only temporarily pressured, because its credit book is compounding faster than revenue. Revenue is growing about 40% while credit grows 75%+, and rapid loan origination books provisioning and operating costs upfront, while the revenue and lifetime economics of those cohorts take time to emerge. @ZeeContrarian1 may be right on the trade but is wrong on the business's long-term trajectory. x.comÂ
MercadoLibre's growth under Lula makes today's selloff look absurd. On a TTM basis since Q1 2023, revenue is up 206% and EPS 200%; having done so well during his term, it should be fine going forward. x.com x.comÂ
Latin American equities' sell-off looks overdone as long as the underlying businesses keep growing and fundamentals remain intact. Under that condition, the drop is market noise, and MercadoLibre and Nu Holdings could offer attractive opportunities amid the panic. x.comÂ
South American political unpredictability keeps investors from rewarding MercadoLibre's excellent fundamentals. Today's selloff illustrates that risk, despite the strength of the business. x.com x.comÂ
MercadoLibre and Nu Holdings have massive runways and have thrived across political backdrops, so they do not need tax cuts or deregulation to keep winning. Both have performed extremely well in Brazil under Lula since 2023, even in a fragile macro backdrop. The election-driven selloff left these cream-of-the-crop businesses at lower multiples, and more near-term selloffs are possible. x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
Excellent management makes dLocal, MercadoLibre and Nu Holdings three great companies to pick up at a discount after the Lula-election selloff. Their Brazil exposure sent them down 9%, 9% and 22% on claims that the investment climate had worsened, a claim worth questioning. 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 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
Brazil's political developments have driven a selloff that makes MercadoLibre a dip opportunity. MELI is down 11% amid the market's reaction. x.comÂ
MercadoLibre is a short because credit is deteriorating in its finance business and e-commerce competition in Brazil is pressuring margins, while it trades at a huge premium to anything comparable. x.com x.comÂ
Nu and MercadoLibre's biggest secular-growth advantage is resilience to electoral and macro shocks. Nu hit 139 million customers and $1 billion quarterly net income through Brazil's recession, impeachment and pandemic. MercadoLibre survived the dot-com crash and devaluations; Mercado Pago has nearly 78 million monthly users and credit growth above 90% year on year. With regional e-commerce growing 15%-20% annually, their value through 2027 depends on adoption and delinquencies, not one election. … Show more
