4-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: MercadoLibre

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Based on the aggregated intelligence of 135,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, South American online auction site operator MercadoLibre (Nasdaq: MELI) has earned a respected four-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at MercadoLibre's business, and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

MercadoLibre facts

Headquarters (founded)

Buenos Aires, Argentina (1999)

Market Cap

$1 billion

Industry

Internet software and services

TTM Revenue

$140.5 million

Management

Co-Founder/CEO Marcos Galperin
Co-Founder/CFO Hernan Kazah

Return on Equity (average, last two years)

20.7%

Competitors

Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN)
Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO)

CAPS members bullish on MELI also bullish on:

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL)

CAPS members bearish on MELI also bearish on:

Citigroup (NYSE: C)

Sources: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, and Motley Fool CAPS. TTM = trailing 12 months.

Over on CAPS, some 95% of the 740 members who have rated MercadoLibre believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include dvena and All-Star kkconway, who is ranked in the top 10% of our community.

Last month, dvena tapped the stock as a Latin leader worth bidding on:

[MercadoLibre] is the Craig's List, [eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY)], Amazon and Paypal of Latin America all rolled up in one. They are the number one or number two provider in most of the countries they serve. Latin America's internet usage is growing, but has a long way to go to catch up with the percentage of internet users in the US.

In a pitch two days later, kkconway brought MercadoLibre's recent top-line letdown (and ensuing stock drop) to our community's attention:

Down 17% today on revenue disappointment, no doubt due to weak economy, not inherent to the company. This is the Latin version of EBay or Amazon, except early entry and still cheap -- in the value sense. Wait a year or two, & it could easily be a multi-bagger.

What do you think about MercadoLibre, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 135,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.

Closed for 15 months – opening 10 days only! Get notified ahead of time as our expert portfolio manager invests $1 MILLION in the best opportunities from across The Motley Fool’s premium investment services. This is the first open since August 2008, by invitation only. Enter email below.

Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. MercadoLibre and Google are Motley Fool Rule Breakers recommendations. Apple, Amazon, and eBay are selections of Stock Advisor. eBay is also an Inside Value choice. The Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.

Comments from our Foolish Readers

Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment Report this Comment icon found on every comment.

  • Report this Comment On June 02, 2009, at 6:43 PM, masterN17 wrote:

    I have been watching this stock for some time and I plan on taking a long-term buy position this week.

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11/9/2009 4:00 PM
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