MELI: The $114B Tech Giant You Probably Haven't Discussed Enough

Been diving into stocks outside the US lately, and I stumbled upon MercadoLibre (MELI). I know it's been around for a while, but searching this sub, I was surprised to see how little it's discussed here. Figured I'd share my thoughts and hear what others think.

Quick Overview:
MercadoLibre is basically Latin America's Amazon + PayPal combined. They run the largest e-commerce platform in Latin America and have a massive fintech operation (Mercado Pago) that's becoming a beast of its own.

Key Stats:

  • Market Cap: $114B
  • Revenue: $18.4B (TTM), up from $7B in 2021
  • Profit Margin: 9%
  • Free Cash Flow: $6.18B (TTM), up from $356M in 2021
  • EPS Growth: 92% (TTM)
  • ROE: 51%
  • Forward P/E: 51 (PEG ratio: 1.37)
  • Balance Sheet: More cash than debt
  • Expected Revenue Growth: ~25% (analyst consensus)

What Caught My Eye:

  1. Their financials are solid and getting better - that FCF growth is insane
  2. They're profitable while still growing rapidly
  3. The valuation looks high at first (51 P/E), but with their growth rate, the PEG ratio of 1.37 doesn't seem crazy

The "But What About" Part:
Yeah, there are the usual emerging market concerns - political instability, currency risks, regulatory uncertainty, etc. But honestly, looking at the past few years, even US companies aren't immune to these issues anymore.

Discussion Points:

  1. How do you view emerging market risks in today's global economy? Are we overplaying these risks for companies like MELI?
  2. The Latin American e-commerce market is way less saturated than the US - how much runway for growth is left?
  3. Their fintech division is killing it in a region where many people are still unbanked. Could this be their biggest growth driver?
  4. With their market cap over $100B, are they still flying under the radar of US investors?

I feel like we spend so much time discussing the same US tech stocks, we might be missing some interesting opportunities elsewhere. MELI seems to have the scale, growth, and fundamentals that we usually get excited about.

What are your thoughts? Anyone been following this company closely? Would love to hear both bull and bear cases.