Is anyone on the board invested in MELI? It is high growth, extremely volatile and currency exchange seems to affect it’s earnings in opposing ways depending upon exchange rates. I’ve read the rule breakers info on the stock but was wondering what other thoughts anyone might have. I notice that none of the end of month posters (Saul, Bear, etc.) own MELI. Any particular reason(s)?
MC - No position in MELI
HMD:
I have owned MELI for quite a long time and have very high conviction for it. TMFLifeIsGood does a great job of covering it on the MELI Rule Breakers Board and that would be my first stop if I were
new to the company.
best of luck
michael
Recent Rule Breakers signals seem to almost be saying “if you don’t buy some MELI, you’re going to miss out!!!”. From what I can tell.
I am thinking I may double my position soon, even though my initial purchase from last summer has doubled…really wish I had started off with a larger initial position, but c’est la vie.
Yeh - I’ve tracked it for a while and like a few others always seems to be at an all time high. Nearly bought last year in the pull back to 140 but it took off before I could buy. I like it a lot and if Ali Baba didn’t exist I would have bought it as my catch up play but the South American market isn’t that big and BABA is growing 2-3x faster with a lot greater potential. Still like it tho and may buy.
Ant
Doc
I have been a MELI owner since it was a rec from MDP. I have no regrets, and believe that MELI will continue to grow. I have to admit, that I was skeptical, at first given LATAM’s high unemployment, high inflation, political unrest, and currency issues. However, MELI seems to keep on growing profitably.
DHeavy
I have owned a small position in MELI since it was $100. It is now $284 but it is believed that its current market cap of $12.4M is a small fraction of its future potential.
As others point out, multiple services at the Fool have been shouting from the hilltops on this one in terms of multiple recommendations, as a starter stock, as current recommendations, etc. They consider this company a ‘juggernaut’ in its space.
In addition, Mornigstar is out with a note today:
The Next Amazon or Alibaba? MercadoLibre’s Strengthening Network Effect Warrants Wide Moat
“We’ve raised our moat rating for MercadoLibre to wide from narrow based on the firm’s increasingly capital-efficient online marketplaces and payment solutions and buyer and seller metrics that indicate a strengthening of its network effect moat source, which should help solidify its market leadership across Latin America.”
I recently doubled my position to rotate further into this stock given my shared high conviction. It is now >5% of my portfolio. I feel very good about MELI’s prospects given their escalating performance in a poor economy. Imagine what they can do when the South American economy improves coupled with their ability monetize their e-payment capabilities and retail platform over much higher transactional volume…?!
So as you can tell I most definitely recommend folks take a look at this company as a core long-term holding.
–Vic
Hey MC
I’ve owned MELI for over a decade. It has grown into my largest position. It struggled for a few years because of currency issues(it reports in US dollars)but has really taken off lately. I agree with the other poster that TMFLifeIsGood has done an excellent job following the company over the years. His role in the fool has changed recently though so not sure if he will be able to offer the same coverage, which is a loss for us. I would go over his writeups for past few quarters if your able.
Would suggest company is short term expensive, long term cheap.
Scott
I have been slowly building my position in MELI since the beginning of 2015 to the point where it is now over 3.5% of my portfolio.
One of the main positive points that I have not seen posted here is the fact that the internet still has plenty of room to grow in South America (internet penetration rate is 66.7% of the population). Not only is the internet still growing but e-commerce in South America is still in its infancy.
Brazil leads South America with an average revenue per online shopper of $350/year (USA is over $1800/year). There are no South American countries in the Top 10 of e-commerce sales as a percentage of total retail sales (USA e-commerce is 16.9% of retail sales, Japan is #10 at 6.2%). Sales growth is not going to be a problem for MELI.
MELI has also developed their own payment system (similar to PayPal by E-Bay) and delivery system. Each time a customer buys something on MELI, the company has an opportunity to make more money when the customer uses the payment and/or delivery systems.
Doing all of this while having to deal with the economic problems that have burdened Brazil, Argentina and others in South America shows me that they know what they are doing.
JK
Thank you for all the replies. The comment about being cheap long term was exactly my thought. After some more research today I initiated a 3% position with plans to build up to a 5-6% position on any pullback more than 7-10%.
MC