MercadoLibre reported strong fourth quarter results that exceeded expectations. The Latin American e-commerce giant posted revenue of $6.06 billion, slightly above estimates. Earnings per share came in at $12.61, significantly surpassing the $8.20 per share projected by analysts.
Revenue grew substantially across MercadoLibre’s key markets. Mexico saw 31% growth, Brazil 32%, and Argentina a staggering 141% compared to the same period last year. Overall, the company’s revenue increased by 37% year-over-year to reach a quarterly record.
During the fourth quarter, gross merchandise value increased by 8% to $14.5 billion. The number of items sold rose by 27% to 525.5 million. Total payment volumes soared 33% to $58.9 billion.
Shipment volume also saw a 21% increase, with 49% of shipments delivered within this time frame. MercadoLibre’s credit portfolio grew by 74% year over year, reaching $6.6 billion. Unique buyers increased by 24% to 67.3 million.
MercadoLibre’s fourth quarter growth sources
Items sold per buyer gained 3% to 7.8.
Within its FinTech services, monthly active users surged 34% to 61.2 million. The credit card segment remained the largest within the credit portfolio, representing 40% of the total, up from 32% the previous year.
Over the full year, the company’s credit card business jumped by 118% to $2.6 billion. Overall credit metrics showed improvement. The percentage of non-performing loans decreased to 7.4%, down from 7.8% in the third quarter and 8.2% last year.
Monthly active sellers with credit rose to 24.6%, up from 14.2% in the fourth quarter of 2023. For the full year, MercadoLibre reached 100 million unique buyers on its platform, an improvement of 18.8%. The announcement pushed the company’s shares up by 13% in after-hours trading on Thursday.
The CFO emphasized the importance of the credit card business, stating, “Having a solid credit card offering is critical to our ambition of being the largest digital bank in Latin America. We will continue investing in our platform to capture these opportunities even if there is pressure on margins.”
Management noted that credit quality has remained strong, with no deterioration. Specifically, in Brazil, the credit card business recorded the lowest first payment default metrics on record as of the end of last year.
Shares of MercadoLibre surged 8% and set an intraday record of $2,374.54 on Friday morning following the strong earnings report. The company stated, “Retention and frequency on our marketplace are at record levels, as are payments and deposits per user in our digital account, and the number of merchants borrowing from us is higher than ever.”
