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Tariffs Hit Brazil: Can MELI Maintain Momentum in its Biggest Market?
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Key Takeaways
MELI plans to invest 34B reais in Brazil in 2025, up 48% from last year's spending.
New U.S. tariffs on Brazilian imports sent MELI shares down over 3% in Thursday trading.
A weaker real and slower GDP may curb consumer spending and squeeze MELI's Brazil e-commerce demand.
MercadoLibre (MELI - Free Report) remains firmly rooted in Brazil, which currently contributes more than 50% of its revenues. Strong growth across commerce and fintech, rising brand preference and new Mercado Pago branding have made Brazil its most important and established market.
However, President Trump’s 50% tariff on Brazilian imports has raised concerns. MercadoLibre stock was down more than 3% in Thursday trading after Trump’s announcement. While it targets geopolitical tensions more than trade flows, the resulting pressure on Brazil’s economy could indirectly affect MercadoLibre. A weaker currency and slower GDP growth may squeeze consumer spending, impacting e-commerce demand. Potential retaliatory moves from Brazil may also disrupt supply chains or raise logistics costs, adding to the uncertainty.
In the first quarter of 2025, MercadoLibre generated $3.08 billion in net revenues from Brazil, up 20% year over year in USD terms. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 revenues from Brazil is pegged at $14.3 billion. However, any retaliation from Brazil or further escalation in tariffs could add pressure to MercadoLibre’s operations in its biggest market, which investors should monitor closely.
MELI is ramping up its commitment to Brazil with a record 34 billion reais ($5.8 billion) investment planned for 2025, a 48% jump from last year. The spending will support logistics, technology, marketing, entertainment, hiring and loyalty programs across both commerce and fintech. With Brazil contributing over half of MELI’s revenues, this move highlights its focus on strengthening operations in its most important market.
MELI Faces Stiff Competition in Brazil
MercadoLibre faces rising competition in e-commerce from Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) and Sea Limited (SE - Free Report) , which are expanding their operations in Brazil.
Amazon offers customers more than 100 million products across 50 categories in the country. Amazon's logistics network in Brazil includes 10 fulfillment centers and 22 delivery stations throughout the country.
Shopee, backed by Sea Limited, is expanding in Brazil with aggressive pricing, mobile-first engagement and incentives for sellers. Sea Limited’s Shopee opened its first fulfillment distribution center in the Sao Paulo metro area late last year, designed to store products from Brazilian sellers and speed up last-mile delivery in the region.
MELI’s Share Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
MELI shares have gained 41.7% in the year-to-date (YTD) period, outperforming the Zacks Internet – Commerce industry and the Zacks Retail-Wholesale sector’s growth of 6.8% and 4.5%, respectively.
MELI’s YTD Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, MELI stock is currently trading at a forward 12-month Price/Sales ratio of 3.91X compared with the industry’s 2.17X. MELI has a Value Score of D.
MELI Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter 2025 earnings is pegged at $12.01 per share, which has remained steady over the past 30 days, indicating 14.60% year-over-year growth.
Image: Bigstock
Tariffs Hit Brazil: Can MELI Maintain Momentum in its Biggest Market?
Key Takeaways
MercadoLibre (MELI - Free Report) remains firmly rooted in Brazil, which currently contributes more than 50% of its revenues. Strong growth across commerce and fintech, rising brand preference and new Mercado Pago branding have made Brazil its most important and established market.
However, President Trump’s 50% tariff on Brazilian imports has raised concerns. MercadoLibre stock was down more than 3% in Thursday trading after Trump’s announcement. While it targets geopolitical tensions more than trade flows, the resulting pressure on Brazil’s economy could indirectly affect MercadoLibre. A weaker currency and slower GDP growth may squeeze consumer spending, impacting e-commerce demand. Potential retaliatory moves from Brazil may also disrupt supply chains or raise logistics costs, adding to the uncertainty.
In the first quarter of 2025, MercadoLibre generated $3.08 billion in net revenues from Brazil, up 20% year over year in USD terms. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 revenues from Brazil is pegged at $14.3 billion. However, any retaliation from Brazil or further escalation in tariffs could add pressure to MercadoLibre’s operations in its biggest market, which investors should monitor closely.
MELI is ramping up its commitment to Brazil with a record 34 billion reais ($5.8 billion) investment planned for 2025, a 48% jump from last year. The spending will support logistics, technology, marketing, entertainment, hiring and loyalty programs across both commerce and fintech. With Brazil contributing over half of MELI’s revenues, this move highlights its focus on strengthening operations in its most important market.
MELI Faces Stiff Competition in Brazil
MercadoLibre faces rising competition in e-commerce from Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) and Sea Limited (SE - Free Report) , which are expanding their operations in Brazil.
Amazon offers customers more than 100 million products across 50 categories in the country. Amazon's logistics network in Brazil includes 10 fulfillment centers and 22 delivery stations throughout the country.
Shopee, backed by Sea Limited, is expanding in Brazil with aggressive pricing, mobile-first engagement and incentives for sellers. Sea Limited’s Shopee opened its first fulfillment distribution center in the Sao Paulo metro area late last year, designed to store products from Brazilian sellers and speed up last-mile delivery in the region.
MELI’s Share Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
MELI shares have gained 41.7% in the year-to-date (YTD) period, outperforming the Zacks Internet – Commerce industry and the Zacks Retail-Wholesale sector’s growth of 6.8% and 4.5%, respectively.
MELI’s YTD Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, MELI stock is currently trading at a forward 12-month Price/Sales ratio of 3.91X compared with the industry’s 2.17X. MELI has a Value Score of D.
MELI Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter 2025 earnings is pegged at $12.01 per share, which has remained steady over the past 30 days, indicating 14.60% year-over-year growth.
MercadoLibre, Inc. Price and Consensus
MercadoLibre, Inc. price-consensus-chart | MercadoLibre, Inc. Quote
MercadoLibre currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.