MercadoLibre stock moves higher on big bottom line beat
Leila Melhado

Mercadolibre (NASDAQ:MELI) stock shot up over 6% in Thursdayâs extended session after the company posted stronger than expected Q4 profits.

The Latin American e-commerce leader posted $3.25 in earnings per share for the quarter, outpacing consensus estimates by $0.93. Meanwhile, a 40.8% jump in revenue from the prior year narrowly beat analyst expectations. Total payment volume rocketed 80% higher from Q4 2021 to $36B while Gross Merchandise Volume rose 34.7% year-over-year.

âOver the last three years, we have built a GMV base that is 2.5x larger than in 2019 and continues to grow, we have ramped-up a logistics network with world-class delivery speeds (GMV delivered within 48 hours rose from an average of 44% in 2019 to almost 80% in 2022) and we have strengthened the other key pillars of our Commerce value proposition: assortment, price and service,â a shareholder letter explained. âThe much-increased scale gained through this three year period solidifies our position as Latin Americaâs e-commerce leader. It also positions us well to continue to capitalize on the growth opportunity of the offline to online shift in retailing across the region.â

The letter added that total payment volume has grown 400% since 2019 while revenues have grown 500% in that span. The fintech business was cited as a âmajor contributorâ to top and bottom line growth for the company since 2019. Meanwhile, the commerce segment accelerated sharply in Mexico and Brazil, offsetting some weaker volume trends in Argentina.

Moving forward, the company expects more growth given the doubling of technology investments since 2021 to accelerate growth. 

âAfter a year of successfully navigating macroeconomic instability across the region and delivering on our promise of sustainable and sequential growth in profit dollars, we are confident in Mercado Libreâs growth potential in the coming years,â the letter concluded. âWe will continue to develop competitive advantages through technology so that we are best placed to capitalize on the growth opportunities in Commerce and Fintech across Latin America.â

Shares of Mercadolibre rose 6.14% in after hours trading on Thursday.
Dig into the details of the quarterly report.