Investors are celebrating the S&P 500 being back in the positive in 2025, but it's up only 2% as there's plenty of uncertainty remaining in the economy.
The S&P 500 is only an average, but it reflects trends in the broader market, and it tends to be quite accurate. Many of today's hottest stocks are similarly up or down a bit this year, like Nvidia stock going up 7% after gaining 171% last year and Amazon stock going down 2% after climbing 44% last year.
But not all stocks are in that boat. E-commerce powerhouse MercadoLibre (MELI 3.02%) continues to thrive as a business, and its stock is trouncing the market, up 41% this year. Let's see whether this top stock can make you a millionaire.
Superior performance in the present
Investors may be focusing on non-U.S. stocks right now, but MercadoLibre has been a market-beating stock for a long time. It consistently reports outstanding performance in nearly all areas.
Its main business is e-commerce, and it operates an online marketplace similar to Amazon in 18 Latin American countries. Despite being around for quite a while, this business continues to grow rapidly. In the 2025 first quarter, gross merchandise volume increased 40% year over year (currency neutral). Items sold increased 28%, and unique active buyers were up 25%. That's its fastest growth since the pandemic started, when it accelerated. The company credits its investments for enhancing its value proposition with driving growth in unique buyers.
Image source: Getty Images.
It has one of the fastest delivery rates on the planet, with 74% of orders reaching their destinations within 48 hours in Q1. That's a slowdown from a high of 80% in 2021, and for good reason. The company offers a membership program called Meli+ with the option for a weekly delivery day, and while it brings down its two-day delivery rate, it cuts down on costs.
The company has developed a robust fintech platform to service its underbanked customers, and this business is also flourishing. Total payment volume increased 72% year over year in Q1, and monthly active users were up 31% to more than 64 million.
The fintech platform includes a large credit business, with different kinds of accounts, loans, and credit cards. Assets under management more than doubled from last year in the first quarter, and the credit portfolio increased 75%.
Massive potential for the future
MercadoLibre is demonstrating fantastic performance right now, but there are also many reasons to be confident about the future.
E-commerce in Latin America is still way behind other parts of the world. Penetration is in the mid-teens, which lags behind the U.S. by about a decade. The marketplace has a self-reinforcing network effect where as there are more buyers, more sellers get on the platform. This leads to more choices and more competitive pricing, a higher value proposition, and more buyers. As buyers become more comfortable with the platform, engagement increases, and more buyers purchase across more categories.
There's a similarly huge opportunity in fintech, where the banking industry is being disrupted. MercadoLibre has an edge because of its ecosystem, and platform users are already in the system. In Brazil, one of its biggest markets, legacy banks still have about 59% of the market, but that's changing. In Argentina, another of its large markets, the loan-to-gross domestic product ratio is less than 10%, while it's above 50% in Brazil.
It's also growing its advertising business and sees opportunities to further expand into new areas, giving it a long growth runway in many directions.
Can it make you a millionaire?
Like any stock, how much you put in will somewhat determine how much you can make. Do I see MercadoLibre becoming a multibagger for new investors? I do. As an example, let's say it can grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30% over the next five years. With a 64% increase (currency neutral) in Q1, and similar performance in general, that seems credible. That would lead to revenue of $78 billion in five years. Keeping its price-to-sales ratio constant, the stock would nearly quadruple.
There's no guarantee that this will happen, but it's a possible scenario. If you put in enough money and have a long time horizon, it could turn into $1 million. However, that will only work for investors who have that much to invest in one stock while remaining well diversified.
If you don't have that much to invest, buying MercadoLibre stock today can still be a valuable addition to a portfolio that could lead to millionaire status.
