MercadoLibre's Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y

MercadoLibre (MELI) reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of $9.19 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8.69 per share by 5.75% and declined 10.86% year over year from $10.31 per share in the year-ago quarter. Revenues rose 49.76% on a year-over-year basis (43% on a foreign-exchange-neutral basis) to $10.17 billion, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.07%.

Commerce and fintech revenues grew 50% and 49% year over year on a reported basis, respectively. Brazil delivered foreign-exchange-neutral GMV growth of 39% year over year, Mexico posted 26% amid tax reform headwinds, and Argentina delivered 38% against a challenging consumption environment. Advertising revenues rose 62% year over year on a foreign-exchange-neutral basis, with MELI surpassing a 10% share of Latin America's digital advertising market for the first time.

MELI’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, with an average surprise of 107.32%.

MELI's Q2 in Detail

Brazil: Net revenues in the second quarter reached $5,530 million (54.39% of total revenues), up 59% year over year on a reported basis, aided by currency tailwinds, credit card portfolio expansion and robust advertising uptake. On a foreign exchange neutral basis, growth was 42%.

Mexico: The market generated revenues of $2,337 million (22.98% of total revenues), increasing 55% year over year on a reported basis and 38% on a foreign exchange neutral basis. Growth continued to be tempered by the tax reform headwind flagged in the prior quarter, along with a softer macroeconomic environment.

Argentina: Net revenues in the reported quarter were $1,839 million (18.09% of total revenues), reflecting an increase of 20% year over year on a reported basis, as currency movements acted as a headwind. On a foreign exchange neutral basis, growth was 48%.

Other countries: These markets generated revenues of $463 million (4.55% of total revenues), representing growth of 63.03% on a year-over-year basis, with cross-border trade continuing to contribute meaningfully to assortment depth.

Key Metrics for MELI

Gross Merchandise Volume of $21.9 billion increased 44% year over year and 36% on a foreign exchange neutral basis.

The number of successful items sold was 795 million, up 44.55% year over year. Unique buyer growth was 25.35% year over year, with the number reaching 89 million. Items sold per unique active buyer reached 8.9, growing 14% year over year, led by Brazil, where the metric grew 19% year over year.

Fintech Monthly Active Users rose 29.41% year over year to 88 million. Assets Under Management grew 68% year over year to $23 billion, with AUM per user reaching $264, up 29% year over year. The credit portfolio expanded 75% year over year to $16.4 billion, with credit exposure per user in the consumer and credit card portfolios reaching $231 and $446, growing 34% and 20% year over year, respectively.

Total Payment Volume rose 56% year over year and 56% on a foreign exchange neutral basis to $101 billion. Acquiring Total Payment Volume grew 44% year over year to $64.1 billion, with foreign exchange neutral growth of 42%.

Total payment transactions increased 43.65% year over year to 5,181 million.

The credit portfolio reached $16.4 billion, growing 75% year over year. The credit card issued 2.6 million new cards in the quarter, up from 1.6 million cards a year ago. Asset quality remained solid, with the 15 to 90 day non-performing loan ratio at 7% for the total portfolio and 4.6% for the credit card specifically, both close to historic lows.

MercadoLibre’s Operating Details

In the second quarter, gross margin contracted approximately 468 basis points on a year-over-year basis to 40.9%, primarily reflecting pricing and supply initiatives in Brazil, higher shipping costs and increased device costs in Acquiring, particularly in Mexico.

Total operating expenses were $3,476 million, increasing 53.2% year over year. Income from operations declined 17% year over year to $683 million, with the operating margin contracting 550 basis points to 6.7%, as MELI continued to prioritize investment in free shipping, the credit card, first-party inventory, cross-border trade and user acquisition in Acquiring.

Product development expenses scaled favorably from 8.4% of revenues in the second quarter of 2025 to 7.2% in the reported quarter, reflecting productivity gains from AI adoption across the engineering organization. AI investment grew roughly $80 million year over year in the quarter, split between cost of goods sold and product development.

Net Interest Margin After Losses declined to 20.7% from 23% in the second quarter of 2025, driven primarily by a shift in mix toward the lower-spread credit card, which rose from 43% to 47% of the total portfolio. Credit card NIMAL compressed from breakeven in the year-ago quarter to negative 2.5%, reflecting the step-up in issuance rather than any deterioration in asset quality.

Balance Sheet of MELI

As of June 30, 2026, cash and cash equivalents were $3,649 million, down slightly from $3.68 billion as of March 31, 2026.

Short-term investments were $2,081 million as of June 30, 2026, compared to $1.97 billion as of March 31, 2026, an increase of 5.63%. Net debt increased to $6,425 million at the end of the quarter from $5.75 billion as of March 31, 2026, reflecting continued funding of Mercado Pago's credit operations, including $2.1 billion deployed into loan book growth during the quarter, partially offset by $560 million in fintech funding.

Total loans receivable, net of allowances, stood at $11,996 million compared to $10.74 billion as of March 31, 2026, an increase of 11.72%. Adjusted free cash flow was $214 million, improving from negative $56 million in the first quarter of 2026, even after absorbing $441 million of capital expenditure, consistent with the seasonal normalization of cash generation following the first quarter's seasonal weakness.

MELI’s Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider

Currently, MercadoLibre carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Some other top-ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Retail-Wholesale sector are StubHub Holdings STUB, The TJX Companies  TJX and Five Below FIVE, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

StubHub Holdings is set to report second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 12. StubHub Holdings shares have plunged 34.4% year to date.

The TJX Companies is slated to report second-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Aug. 19. Shares of The TJX Companies have returned 5.5% year to date.

Five Below is set to report second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 26. Shares of Five Below have returned 22.7% year to date.

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