Josh Kohn-Lindquist, The Motley Fool
Fri, February 27, 2026 astatine 11:12 AM CST 3 min read
Shares of starring Latin American e-commerce and fintech behemoth MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI) are down 13% this week arsenic of 11 a.m. ET connected Friday aft the institution reported fourth-quarter net Tuesday afternoon. MercadoLibre grew gross by 45% successful Q4, easy surpassing Wall Street's expectations. However, nett income declined 13%, missing analysts' expectations, arsenic the institution spent heavy connected an array of maturation areas, weighing connected wide profitability. While this short-term profitability weakness is valid to a degree, it was inactive an unthinkable 4th for the company.
In Q4, MercadoLibre:
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grew gross merchandise measurement by 35% and unsocial progressive buyers by 24%
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increased full outgo measurement by 42% and fintech monthly progressive users by 27%
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saw its recognition portfolio turn by 90% and assets nether absorption leap 78%
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delivered advertizing maturation of 67%
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used AI assistants to lick 87% of Mercado Pago idiosyncratic interactions without quality interaction
While profitability did dip, spurring the market's adverse reaction, the institution invested heavy successful its escaped shipping ambitions, its first-party e-commerce operations, its nascent cross-border commercialized business, and its recognition paper offerings. As a shareholder, I'm blessed to sacrifice immoderate short-term profitability for the semipermanent imaginable of these maturation areas, truthful I deliberation this week's sell-off is simply a spot of an overreaction. For instance, MercadoLibre lowered its escaped shipping minimum successful Brazil (for the 3rd time) to astir $4. This determination hurts profitability today, but the institution has already seen accrued acquisition frequency, stronger efficiencies logistically, and caller buyers entering the ecosystem. Furthermore, MercadoLibre's Net Promoter Score reached caller records successful some e-commerce and fintech crossed Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina, underscoring its continued best-in-class show astatine keeping customers happy.
MercadoLibre presently trades astatine 30 times guardant earnings, which is truly tenable for a institution that has grown its gross by 30% oregon much for 28 consecutive quarters. With Latin American e-commerce penetration rates inactive lone fractional those of the U.S., China, and the U.K., MercadoLibre's semipermanent maturation communicative has plentifulness of chapters left. I'm blessed to adhd to my holdings astatine this just price.
Before you bargain banal successful MercadoLibre, see this:

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