MercadoLibre Rewards Buyers With Strong Set of Results

MercadoLibre (MELI:US) delivered stronger-than-expected results for its fourth quarter to send shares higher at the end of the last week.

The largest South American e-commerce platform reported its revenue increased by 41% year-over-year to $3.0 billion, in-line with analyst estimates. Surging sales were fueled by a 50% and 55% jump in Argentina and Mexico revenues, respectively. 

The company reported earnings per share of $3.25, smashing the consensus for earnings of $2.11 per share. MELI reported a loss per share of $0.92 for the same period last year. Gross merchandise volume (GMV), which measures the value of goods sold on the platform, rose 21% YoY to $9.62 billion.

“The end of the fourth quarter of 2022 brought a highly successful year to a close. Over the last 12 months, we have processed more than $100bn in payments, booked over $10bn of net revenues, shipped more than 1bn items through Mercado Envios, and surpassed $1bn of Income from operations, all for the first time in our history,” the company said in the earnings press release.

MercadoLibre is a popular stock for two Congress members - Rep. Ro Khanna and Rep. Josh Gottheimer. Both were buying this e-commerce stock this year with the latter investing in the second half of January when shares were trading above $1,000 each.

On the other hand, Mr. Khanna bought MELI shares in November and early January when they were trading below $900 apiece. For comparison purposes, MELI stock closed at $1,156.88 on Friday.