MercadoLibre Up as Investors Discuss ‘Huge’ Potential By Investing.com

By Christiana Sciaudone

Investing.com — MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) rose more than 3% following a Motley Fool discussion in which three shareholders discussed the huge opportunity for growth that remains in Latin America.

“MercadoLibre is doubling its workforce this year, this calendar year, and they are adding 16,000 people to their roster and 11,000 of them are part of the Envios fulfillment platform,” said investor Brian Withers. “They are far and away to me, the leader in the region and I want to see them continue to keep a lock on that.”

Like so many online marketplaces around the world, Mercado Libre saw sales explode throughout the pandemic-driven lockdowns that kept people home.

The company reported growth of more than 61% in unique active users for the first quarter, reaching 69.8 million. Gross merchandise volume increased to $6.1 billion, a 77% jump over a year earlier in U.S. dollar terms. Successful items sold reached 222 million, up 110% year-over-year. 

Shares are down about 30% since hitting a record in January. The stock has nine buys and nary a sell or hold. Looks like an easy one.