MELI - MercadoLibre, Inc

[BadThad]

I've been watching this stock for a couple months now. Sure wish I would have bought it as it saw a huge run. Just wanted to toss this one out there for everyone.

MELI on Google Finance (http://finance.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:MELI&source=finance)

Chart (http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=MELI&p=DAILY&b=5&g=0&id=p64562741425)

Today's Price: $73.88

Down slightly from it's high of $78.98 a few days ago.

[BadThad]

WOW, this stock is been really beaten down!

Today's Price: $45.41 at close! 8-|

[BadThad]

Down over 16% on this news, currently at 45.69:

WASHINGTON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Argentina's online trading platform, MercadoLibre Inc, said on Friday it and selling shareholders filed with U.S. regulators to sell as much as $292 million in common stock.

The company hired JPMorgan and Merrill Lynch & Co to underwrite the sale, according to an offering document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Buenos Aires-based company is listed under the symbol "MELI." Its stock closed at $54.06 per share on Friday.

[BadThad]

Down another 10% so far today, this stock is very, very volatile. Currently at $37.19. I'm looking for the bottom.

[BadThad]

News story pumping MELI:

What would you say if I told you I knew a way to travel back in time and buy yourself a few shares of eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) at the price it was fetching just after its September 1998 IPO? I'm talking about a chance at a do-over, and an opportunity to enjoy 10 years of barn-burning growth, culminating in a roughly 1300% profit.

"Take a hike, bud."
OK, fair response. But what if I told you instead that I know an eBay lookalike. One that's just gone public, and that has at least a chance of generating the same kind of profits that eBay has returned over the past decade.

"..."
OK. I see I've got your attention this time. So allow me to introduce you to MercadoLibre (Nasdaq: MELI). Just like eBay, it's an online auctioneer. Just like eBay used to be, it's share price looks obscenely high today. Just like eBay, it looks poised for growth, and able to generate profits for investors regardless of that sky-high price.

Since its IPO in August at $22 per share, MercadoLibre hasn't looked back. Soaring as high as $80.74 per share in December, the stock offered early investors a 267% profit over just four months of investment. Fortunately for those of us who didn't invest before the opening bell, the stock has given back a lot of its early gains over the past few weeks. At today's price, it's up a mere 68% from where it began -- and if this stock performs anything like eBay did, this is only the beginning.

Back up a step. Avocado-what?
No, "MercadoLibre." The Argentinean eBay. Here, let me quote directly from the report compiled by a scouting party that the Fool's international investing newsletter, Motley Fool Global Gains, dispatched to Buenos Aires in November:

The sign on the door at MercadoLibre's office reads, "MercadoLibre en asociacion con eBay." The well-known Internet auctioneer is both a major investor in MercadoLibre and a partner when it comes to sharing best practices...

It's a beautiful business with high margins, little capital investment requirements, and significant network effects.

And, because it's the clear market leader in Brazil (59% of revenue), Mexico (15%), Argentina (15%), and the rest of Latin America, it -- unlike eBay today -- is growing like wildfire.

And how fast does wildfire grow, exactly?
Step with me into that time machine that you didn't believe I owned a few paragraphs ago. Back in 1998, a barely profitable eBay was selling for as much as 102 time its trailing revenues of $86 million -- and was considered a bargain next to unprofitable Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO), which sold for twice eBay's multiple to sales. Today, profitable MercadoLibre costs a "mere" 25 times its trailing revenues (which is only a little more than investors were willingly shelling out for a money-losing Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) back then).

eBay, by the way, has grown its revenue base 88 times in size over the past decade. Now, the better math students among you will quickly recognize that 88 does not equal 13, and therefore, eBay's stock price has not grown nearly as fast as its revenues. But the stock price did grow. And seeing as the S&P 500 today is only about 32% higher than it was back in September 1998, eBay's stock price grew a heckuvalot faster than the broader stock market.

Past is prelude
Skeptics will look at MercadoLibre and snort derisively: "A 200 P/E?! Are you insane?!" And perhaps I am. But perhaps again, insanity is just another way of looking at the world. So here's how I look at things:

MercadoLibre has close to the same sales that eBay was booking yester-decade. MercadoLibre boasts similar growth prospects, and a similarly dominant market share. Yet MercadoLibre today sells for just one-quarter the price-to-sales ratio that eBay commanded in 1998. And relatively speaking, that's cheap.

Give MercadoLibre a decade to work its magic, and I am convinced we'll see the eBay of the Southern Hemisphere turn in a similar performance. With the right ingredients in play, it has the potential to gain significant traction abroad.

[BadThad]

How low can it go in this bear? $34 seems like great deal, it's down another 5% today. I think this one is well worth watching closely.

[BadThad]

Stocks been on the move lately, the 3-month technical indicators are looking prime. The MACD is crossing over and RSI is moving up near 50. Looks good enough that I bought some this morning. :):)

[BadThad]

BANG! Up almost 10% today!

MercadoLibre, Inc. Reports Financial Results for Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2007
4:01p ET March 5, 2008 (PrimeNewswire)
Fourth quarter revenue increases 73.9 percent to $26.9 million -- Fourth quarter operating income margin increases to 27.1 percent on Income from Operations of $7.3 million -- Fourth quarter net income increases 188.5 percent to $5.3 million

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, March 5, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- MercadoLibre, Inc. (Nasdaq:MELI) (http://www.mercadolibre.com), host of the largest online trading and payments platform in Latin America, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2007.

Marcos Galperin, President and Chief Executive Officer of MercadoLibre, Inc. commented, "2007 was a year of significant achievements and milestones for MercadoLibre, the highlight of which was our successful transition to a publicly-traded company listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market in the United States. Throughout the year, we further strengthened our leadership position in e-commerce delivering strong operational and financial performance. Our robust performance continued into the fourth quarter as we delivered revenue growth of 73.9% and operating income margins of 27.1%. Growth rates were strong across all of our business units as well as all of our key geographies. Clearly, we are continuing to benefit from the positive growth trends influencing internet, broadband and PC penetration rates in Latin America, and we believe this course will persist for many years to come."

Financial Results

Fourth Quarter Results

MercadoLibre reported consolidated net revenues for the three months ended December 31, 2007 of $26.9 million, representing a quarterly year over year growth rate of 73.9%. Revenue growth was driven by strong results in both the marketplace and payments businesses. Marketplace revenues grew 61.5% to $21.1 million while Payments revenues grew 141.1% to $5.8 million.

Gross profit grew 75.6% over fourth quarter 2006 to $20.7 million, representing gross profit margins, defined as gross profits as a percentage of revenues, of 77.1%. Income from operations grew 260.0% for the same period to $7.3 million. Operating income margin, defined as income from operations as a percentage of revenues, for the fourth quarter was 27.1%.

Net income for the three-month period was $5.3 million, an increase of 188.5% over the $1.8 million of net income for same period of 2006.

Full Year Results

Revenue for the full year ended December 31, 2007 increased 63.5% to $85.1 million compared with $52.1 million for the full year ended December 31, 2006. Marketplace revenues for the full year 2007 grew 55.4% to $69.5 million over 2006 while Payments revenues grew 112.9% to $15.6 million.

Gross profit increased 65.4% to $66.1 million from $40.0 million from the prior year, representing a gross profit margin of 77.7% for 2007. Income from operations increased 287.8% to $20.9 million from $5.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2006. Operating income margin for the full year was up to 24.6% from 10.4% for the previous year.

Net income for the full year ended December 31, 2007 was $9.7 million, compared to $1.1 million during 2006, an increase of 804.1%.

Mr. Galperin concluded, "As we look forward to 2008, we expect to build on the momentum generated over the past year. Our progress in adapting to web 2.0, as well as our other efforts in enhancing our users' overall experience, positions us well for the long-term. Additionally, we intend to leverage our leadership position and the industry dynamics in Latin America to further drive top-line growth and sustain margins throughout the year. Our focus will remain on providing our users with a superior and highly-innovative e-commerce experience, while delivering value to our shareholders."

Key Performance Metrics

The following are highlights on certain key performance metrics for the quarter ended December 31, 2007.

Registered Users -- New confirmed registered users for the three-month period ended December 31, 2007 were 1.6 million. Total confirmed registered users increased to 24.9 million as of December 31, 2007, an increase of 37.1% over the 18.2 million users registered as of December 31, 2006.

Transaction volume -- Gross merchandise volume was $461.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2007, a 40.2% increase from gross merchandise volume of $328.8 million for the same period during 2006. Successful items sold through MercadoLibre totaled 4.8 million during the fourth quarter of 2007, up 17.9% from the 4.1 million successful items sold during the same quarter of 2006. Total payment volume was $56.8 million during the three-month period ending December 31, 2007, a growth of 86.8% over total payment volume of $30.4 million for the same period of 2006.

[BadThad]

Nice dip in MELI today! I'm jumping in, been waiting for a drop for months.

EDIT: In at $41.39

[BadThad]

Wow....recovering fast! It's at 41.75 already, don't delay if you've been watching this one!

[BadThad]

Dropped a bit more after yesterday morning run-up. Looks to have found it's bottom today.

[BadThad]

Good day today, up almost 5%. :biggrin:

[BadThad]

Looking for a huge day, up to 42.75 (over 7%)! :dance:

[BadThad]

Sure taking a beating lately. Today it's down to where it was Sep 07! 8-|

[BadThad]

Rollercoaster stock! Down huge recently, now it's going back up. From what I've seen, normally, when it starts upward it keeps moving up. I'm back in at 31.27....let see if the bear market can take it down....or not.

[BadThad]

Looks to be stable today, this one gets my BUY recommendation.

[BadThad]

Financials out, stock price down almost $3 this morning to 33.08.

MercadoLibre, Inc. Reports Financial Results for Second Quarter 2008 - MarketWatch (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/mercadolibre-inc-reports-financial-results/story.aspx?guid=%7BCA572DE3-5361-4D6B-B55B-17259BD77122%7D&dist=hppr)

[greencat]

MELI broke out from a small bull flag today and has a good chance of completed the cup pattern and perhaps more.

Shares Outstanding5: 44.13M
Float: 26.56M
% Held by Insiders6: 31.17%
% Held by Institutions6: 72.50%
Shares Short (as of Nov 30, 2010)3: 3.65M
Short Ratio (as of Nov 30, 2010)3: 3.30
Revenue (ttm): 203.42M
Total Debt (mrq): 311.13K

MELI Chart
http://www.profitspi.com/stock-chart-str.aspx?id=MELI&ca=923144159

http://www3.stockfetcher.com/sfchart/1710542648.png

[BadThad]

WOW, sometimes I need to be more patient....arrrgggg.