MercadoLibre stock (MELI) drops 2% as 2026 opens; traders eye $2,000 and next catalysts

MercadoLibre stock (MELI) drops 2% as 2026 opens; traders eye $2,000 and next catalysts

NEW YORK, January 3, 2026, 15:37 ET — Market closed.

MercadoLibre, Inc. shares ended Friday down 2.0% at $1,973.70, after trading between $1,968.89 and $2,037.90. The U.S. market is closed on Saturday.

The move matters because MercadoLibre is one of the largest U.S.-listed proxies for Latin American consumer demand and digital payments. Early-year positioning has made high-growth stocks sensitive to shifts in rates, the dollar and risk appetite.

For investors, Friday’s drop underscores how quickly sentiment can turn in large-cap growth names, even without fresh company headlines. That volatility tends to be amplified in U.S.-listed stocks with emerging-market exposure.

U.S. stocks closed mixed on Friday, with the Dow up 0.66% and the S&P 500 gaining 0.19%, while the Nasdaq ended fractionally lower as megacap tech weighed. “Investors might be a little bit more conscious about some of the valuations that they’re paying for some of the AI plays,” Joe Mazzola, head of trading & derivatives strategist at Charles Schwab, told Reuters. Reuters

On the stock-specific side, Zacks Research downgraded MercadoLibre from “hold” to “strong sell” in a note issued Thursday, MarketBeat reported. The same report put the stock below its 50-day and 200-day simple moving averages — trend gauges that smooth price action over 50 and 200 sessions. MarketBeat

MercadoLibre runs an online marketplace and a fast-growing financial services business anchored by Mercado Pago, its payments platform. The company competes for e-commerce and digital wallet users across major markets including Brazil and Mexico.

Market data shows MercadoLibre’s shares have traded between $1,723.90 and $2,645.22 over the past 52 weeks, leaving the stock about 25% below its high. The company’s market capitalization is about $100 billion.

That backdrop leaves traders focused on whether the stock can reclaim the $2,000 level and stabilize back toward its shorter-term averages, or whether sellers press the January low.

Before the next session, investors are also watching how rates and the dollar open the week after U.S. Treasury yields rose on Friday. Reuters reported markets were looking ahead to a coming batch of delayed economic indicators and employment data in the days ahead. Reuters

For MercadoLibre, the near-term setup keeps macro drivers in the foreground: anything that pushes yields higher tends to pressure expensive growth stocks, while a calmer rate outlook can help support the group.

The next company catalyst is earnings. Nasdaq data shows MercadoLibre is currently expected to report around Feb. 19, though that date is model-derived rather than company-confirmed.

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