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MercadoLibre (MELI - Free Report) reported fourth-quarter 2023 earnings of $3.25 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 51.2%. The bottom-line remained flat year over year.
Revenues surged 41.9% on a year-over-year basis (83.2% on a FX-neutral basis) to $4.26 billion. The top line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.83%.
Total revenues were driven by accelerating commerce and fintech revenues, which grew 48% and 34% year over year to $2.46 billion and $1.8 billion, respectively.
Revenues from MELI’s advertising services grew more than 70% on an FX-neutral basis and were equivalent to almost 1.6% of gross merchandise volume (GMV) at the end of the fourth quarter.
Increasing total payments volume (TPV), courtesy of the robust Mercado Pago, aided the company. MercadoLibre’s rising GMV remained another positive. Strong shipment growth also contributed well to the reported results.
MercadoLibre, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Brazil: Net revenues in the fourth quarter came in at $2.23 billion (52.3% of the total revenues), rising 45.6% year over year.
Argentina: The market generated revenues of $923 million (21.7% of the top line), which surged 29.5% year over year.
Mexico: Net revenues in the reported quarter were $919 million (21.6% of the total revenues), which soared 51.4% year over year.
Other countries: The markets generated revenues of $189 million (4.4% of the total revenues), reflecting an increase of 26% on a year-over-year basis.
Key Metrics
GMV of $13.45 billion jumped 79.5% on an FX-neutral basis year over year. The figure surpassed the consensus mark by 8.1%.
The number of successful items sold was 413 million, up 28.7% year over year. The number of successful items shipped rose 31% year over year to $407 million.
TPV surged 153.2% year over year on a FX-neutral basis to $56.5 billion. This was driven by the strong performance of Mercado Pago. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11.8%.
Off-Marketplace TPV was $42.3 billion, up 181.6% year over year on an FX-neutral basis.
TPV on the marketplace was $14.2 billion, up 40% year over year. Total payment transactions increased 76.2% year over year to $2.96 billion.
Unique active users totaled 144.7 million, up 49.7% year over year and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 113.7 million.
Operating Details
For the fourth quarter, the gross margin was 45.9%, contracting 269 basis points (bps) year over year.
Operating expenses were $1.72 billion, which increased 54.6% year over year. As a percentage of revenues, the figure expanded 330 bps year over year to 40.3% in the reported quarter.
The operating margin was 5.6%, which contracted 600 bps year over year.
Balance Sheet
As of Dec 31, 2023, cash and cash equivalents were $2.56 billion, up from $2.17 billion as of Sep 30, 2023.
Short-term investments were $3.48 billion as of Dec 31, 2023, up from $3.32 billion as of Sep 30.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Currently, MercadoLibre has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Image: Bigstock
MercadoLibre's (MELI) Q4 Earnings Miss, Revenues Rise Y/Y
MercadoLibre (MELI - Free Report) reported fourth-quarter 2023 earnings of $3.25 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 51.2%. The bottom-line remained flat year over year.
Revenues surged 41.9% on a year-over-year basis (83.2% on a FX-neutral basis) to $4.26 billion. The top line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.83%.
Total revenues were driven by accelerating commerce and fintech revenues, which grew 48% and 34% year over year to $2.46 billion and $1.8 billion, respectively.
Revenues from MELI’s advertising services grew more than 70% on an FX-neutral basis and were equivalent to almost 1.6% of gross merchandise volume (GMV) at the end of the fourth quarter.
Increasing total payments volume (TPV), courtesy of the robust Mercado Pago, aided the company. MercadoLibre’s rising GMV remained another positive. Strong shipment growth also contributed well to the reported results.
MercadoLibre, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
MercadoLibre, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | MercadoLibre, Inc. Quote
Quarter in Detail
Brazil: Net revenues in the fourth quarter came in at $2.23 billion (52.3% of the total revenues), rising 45.6% year over year.
Argentina: The market generated revenues of $923 million (21.7% of the top line), which surged 29.5% year over year.
Mexico: Net revenues in the reported quarter were $919 million (21.6% of the total revenues), which soared 51.4% year over year.
Other countries: The markets generated revenues of $189 million (4.4% of the total revenues), reflecting an increase of 26% on a year-over-year basis.
Key Metrics
GMV of $13.45 billion jumped 79.5% on an FX-neutral basis year over year. The figure surpassed the consensus mark by 8.1%.
The number of successful items sold was 413 million, up 28.7% year over year. The number of successful items shipped rose 31% year over year to $407 million.
TPV surged 153.2% year over year on a FX-neutral basis to $56.5 billion. This was driven by the strong performance of Mercado Pago. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11.8%.
Off-Marketplace TPV was $42.3 billion, up 181.6% year over year on an FX-neutral basis.
TPV on the marketplace was $14.2 billion, up 40% year over year. Total payment transactions increased 76.2% year over year to $2.96 billion.
Unique active users totaled 144.7 million, up 49.7% year over year and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 113.7 million.
Operating Details
For the fourth quarter, the gross margin was 45.9%, contracting 269 basis points (bps) year over year.
Operating expenses were $1.72 billion, which increased 54.6% year over year. As a percentage of revenues, the figure expanded 330 bps year over year to 40.3% in the reported quarter.
The operating margin was 5.6%, which contracted 600 bps year over year.
Balance Sheet
As of Dec 31, 2023, cash and cash equivalents were $2.56 billion, up from $2.17 billion as of Sep 30, 2023.
Short-term investments were $3.48 billion as of Dec 31, 2023, up from $3.32 billion as of Sep 30.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Currently, MercadoLibre has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Some other top-ranked stocks in the Retail-Wholesale sector are American Eagle Outfitters (AEO - Free Report) , Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF - Free Report) and The Gap (GPS - Free Report) , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
American Eagle Outfitters shares have gained 8.6% year to date. AEO is scheduled to release fourth-quarter 2023 results on Mar 7.
Abercrombie & Fitch shares have gained 37.4% year to date. ANF is set to report its fourth-quarter 2023 results on Mar 6.
The Gap shares have declined 8.7% year to date. GPS is set to announce fourth-quarter 2023 results on Mar 7.