MercadoLibre (MELI -0.00%) has been on a hot streak so far this year. After putting up two successive quarters of triple-digit gains, some investors find it hard to justify paying up for the stock. Yet even after a bull run in 2020, the stock is still a buy.
On this episode of Fool Live that aired on Nov. 10, "The Wrap" host Jason Hall and Fool.com contributors Danny Vena and Brian Feroldi lay out why the massive opportunity in Latin America makes MercadoLibre a buy -- even after its stellar run.
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Danny Vena: I've got a question from Bob. "At what level do you guys like MercadoLibre?" -- which got eight upvotes. I have to say, unabashed MercadoLibre bull here, and I would point out a couple of things.
The first is that the company is at the intersection of two very quickly growing trends. The first is e-commerce and the second is digital payments. It is the largest provider of e-commerce in Latin America, it is one of the largest providers of digital payments, it has one of the largest networks that people can use its digital payments. Those are now have expanded beyond its platform into physical retail and into other websites.
The second thing I'd point out is that over the past couple of quarters, maybe even three quarters, MercadoLibre has been growing its business at triple digits.
The fact that the stock is down over the last couple of days, I would consider that an opportunity to add. It's on sale, I think it's down about 18% the last time that I looked. It may have fallen more since toward the close.
But I would say this is a good long-term opportunity. I would buy some now if you want to spread your purchases out over time, or you can go all-in on a position. Be prepared for it to be volatile. But 10 years from now when you look back, you'll be very glad that you did.
Jason Hall: Yeah, I think it's important to remember that for all of its incredible growth and how much wealth it has created for investors, this is still a $61 billion company on a market cap basis. It operates in one of the best secular growth markets in the world. The economy in South America, the countries that it does business in are going to be much, much larger 10 or 20 years from now. I think even though it trades at 18 or 19 times sales, yeah, I agree with Danny. I agree completely. Let's see here. What else have we got?
Brian Feroldi: It's my No. 1 holding if that helps.
Jason Hall: There you go.
Danny Vena: My third largest holding.
Brian Feroldi: Come on, Danny, you've got to be a bull.
Danny Vena: That.
Danny Vena: I've been trying, but it's hard to catch up with Netflix after you bought it 12 years ago.
