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The only company in the world to grow revenue >30% for at least 22 consecutive quarters (27 quarters and counting, btw) is now trading for the same multiple as Walmart. This isn't a typo or some weird accounting anomaly, this is just where we're at in 2026.
This is a somewhat longer pitch, skip to the bottom for TLDR if you want.
For those unfamiliar, the common description of MELI is Amazon plus PayPal in Latin America. This is a bit of an oversimplification, but it's directionally accurate. Obviously PayPal comparisons aren't going to excite anyone who's seen a 5y performance chart, but there's good reason why Mercado Pago has a much more durable moat than PayPal's legacy network.
There are two main pillars of the MELI business, with a series of other rapidly emerging segments that you could arguably either separate or include in those pillars.
Ecommerce is the bedrock of the business today, as their MercadoLivre platform acts very similarly to the Amazon marketplace but with an even larger majority of sales being third party listings, rather than MELI proprietary goods (first party). They make their money by providing sellers the listing, storage, and transportation of goods to end customers, and taking a cut in the process. Their main markets are Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina, with small but growing footprints in other LATAM nations.
The second pillar, Mercado Pago, started as a simple payment network. This was remarkably successful because a huge portion of Latin America is unbanked, and effectively opened the door for these people to access the world of ecommerce. Similar to the PayPal-eBay relationship, it started as a way to get these customers transacting on the Ecommerce platform, but has since expanded far beyond the walls of MELI itself. If you buy anything online or in person in South America, there's a solid chance that one of the top checkout options is Mercado Pago, right next to credit cards and other country-specific solutions.
Crucially, there is a flywheel effect between these two things. The Ecommerce site acts as a funnel to encourage people toward Pago, which is a broadly accepted/trusted solution that MELI can monetize even outside their walled garden. MercadoPago also acts as a bridge for MELI to get the under banked population to seemlessly shop on their platform without a huge hassle. The more users on either platform, the better each gets.
As for those emerging segments I mentioned? Credit is the most notable right now, followed by ads. Mercado Credito allows MELI to lock sellers into their ecosystem by funding their business operations. They have a huge underwriting advantage by having access to their sales data (they're already conducting their business through Mercadolivre), and can specify certain conditions like using Mercado Pago as their payment network in order to receive the funding.
As for advertising, it's the same playbook as Amazon. Interestingly, Amazon's advertising revenue as a percentage of GMV is around 7-8%, whereas MELI's is currently around 2%. It's not a guarantee, but it definitely seems like there is room to expand the *extremely* high margin ads business, if AMZN is anything to go off of.
This post is already a bit wordy, so I'll just briefly say that the financials are absolutely incredible. >10x revenue growth since COVID, gross margins in the mid 40's (great for an Ecommerce business), healthy balance sheet, basically no dilution of shares. Look at the charts yourself, I promise you will be amazed at the consistency and speed of growth. As I mentioned, it's the only company in the world with >22 consecutive quarters of >30% revenue growth. Currently, it trades at 30x EV/EBIT, but true profitability (adjusting for huge loan loss provisions that disproportionately affect earnings) is probably somewhere between around 20-25x "mature" margins. The valuation discussion is tough with this name, but I'm happy to discuss with anyone in the comments if there are objections/questions.
-----TLDR-----
You're getting a wide moat, diversified business with a huge runway ahead, growing 40% for 30x EV/EBIT. There is notable competition in LATAM, but MELI continues to execute at a world class level, and the management is absolutely top notch. The risk/reward feels amazing here, and I forsee this moving from my #3 to my #1 holding over the coming months. Hope you guys enjoyed the writeup, lemme know your thoughts!