What happened
Shares of MercadoLibre (MELI -1.98%) have plunged today, down by 8% as of 12:20 p.m. EDT, after the company reported second-quarter earnings. The results topped expectations, but investors may have been pricing in an even stronger performance following the stock's recent rally to all-time highs.
So what
Revenue in the second quarter soared by 61% to $878.4 million, crushing the consensus estimate of $749.2 million in sales. That translated into net income of $55.9 million, or $1.11 per share. Analysts were expecting the Latin American e-commerce technology company to report a net loss per share of $0.05.
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When excluding foreign exchange impacts, revenue would have grown 123%. Gross merchandise volume (GMV) was $5 billion, and MercadoLibre now has 51.5 million unique active users. Total payment volume (TPV) processed through Mercado Pago increased 72% to $11.2 billion.
Now what
"The pandemic generated significant changes in consumer behavior, which translated into a new milestone in the penetration of e-commerce and online payments in the region," CFO Pedro Arnt said in a statement. "We continue to focus on the wellbeing of our teams, and we are proud to report that we've been able to provide an uninterrupted operation of our commerce and fintech solutions throughout the second quarter, helping millions of merchants and buyers to safely transact."
MercadoLibre did not provide guidance for the third quarter, but on the conference call with analysts Arnt expressed confidence that the shift in consumer demand toward digital platforms is sustainable.
