In the latest trading session, MercadoLibre (MELI) closed at $1,989.70, marking a -0.75% move from the previous day. This move was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.91%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a drop of 1.5%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw a decrease of 1.96%.
The operator of an online marketplace and payments system in Latin America's shares have seen a decrease of 0.59% over the last month, surpassing the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 10.52% and the S&P 500's loss of 7.38%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of MercadoLibre in its forthcoming earnings report. On that day, MercadoLibre is projected to report earnings of $7.82 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 15.34%. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $5.5 billion, reflecting a 27% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $47.50 per share and revenue of $25.89 billion. These totals would mark changes of +26.03% and +24.59%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for MercadoLibre. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed an 8.06% increase. As of now, MercadoLibre holds a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Looking at valuation, MercadoLibre is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 42.21. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 20.96, so one might conclude that MercadoLibre is trading at a premium comparatively.
Investors should also note that MELI has a PEG ratio of 1.13 right now. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. Internet - Commerce stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.11 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Internet - Commerce industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 52, placing it within the top 21% of over 250 industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.
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MercadoLibre, Inc. (MELI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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