New York, March 2, 2026, 15:07 (EST) — Regular session
- MELI was trading around $1,773 in the afternoon session, up roughly 0.9%.
- JPMorgan trimmed its price target down to $2,650 but stuck with an Overweight call, flagging margin pressures in Brazil.
- Oil-fueled inflation worries are top of mind for markets, while investors have their sights set on the March 24 conference and a tentative May 7 earnings release.
MercadoLibre, Inc. (MELI.O) traded 0.9% higher at $1,773.22 Monday, shrugging off a price target cut by JPMorgan to $2,650 from $2,800. The firm stuck with its Overweight call. Analyst Marcelo Santos called current margin softness “seems temporary,” pointing to MercadoLibre’s efforts amid stiffer competition in Brazil. TipRanks
It’s only a slight adjustment, yet the questions around MercadoLibre just got louder. Investors are once again pressing: can the company keep pouring money into faster deliveries and more loans, or does that start to eat into profits if it drags on?
Macro jitters persist. U.S. manufacturing grew for the second straight month, but the prices-paid index shot up—something Capital Economics’ Thomas Ryan thinks “will raise some eyebrows at the Fed.” With oil climbing and inflation showing fresh momentum, economists are dialing back expectations for imminent rate cuts. Reuters
Tech stocks propped up the broader market on Wall Street, offsetting early nerves sparked by the Middle East turmoil and a jump in oil prices. “When people get scared, they go back to what is comfortable,” said Bill Smead at Smead Capital Management, summing up the move back into well-known winners. Reuters
Analysts use price targets to suggest where a stock might go in the next 12 months, but these aren’t guarantees. When a firm says “overweight,” it’s signaling they think the shares will beat the performance of other stocks they follow.
MercadoLibre posted a dip in quarterly profit back in late February, as heavier spending on credit and logistics cut into earnings, though revenue still topped forecasts. Leandro Cuccioli, the company’s senior vice president of investor relations, called Latin America’s e-commerce expansion “minute 15 of the first half”—suggesting it’s still early days. Net income landed at $559 million, with revenue just under $8.8 billion for the period. Reuters
The margin fight isn’t fading. Should Brazil’s competitive pressures persist, costs from shipping and credit may linger past investors’ patience. Plus, an expanded loan book brings the risk of sharper delinquency spikes if consumer demand slips.
Days like this tend to muddy the signal. Large swings in risk appetite, not to mention currency volatility, can end up impacting U.S.-listed Latin American firms as much as an analyst’s note ever could.
Up next, MercadoLibre is slated for a Morgan Stanley conference in New York on March 24, with first-quarter earnings tentatively set for May 7. Investors are watching for any clues on whether the company tweaks its pace of spending for growth or leans harder on margin protection.
