Latin American retail website MercadoLibre is sometimes called the Amazon.com of South America. One thing the two companies have in common is they are putting up some dazzling numbers. On Wednesday, the IBD SmartSelect Composite Rating for MercadoLibre stock jumped to a near-best 96, up from 93 the day before.
MercadoLibre last quarter reported a 112% rise in earnings on a year-over-year basis, to a hefty $5.16 per share. The prior three quarters, Uruguay-based MercadoLibre recorded EPS gains of 33%, 457% and 205%. The profit gains came on strong sales too. In its most recent quarter, MercadoLibre recorded a 31% jump in revenue to $3.42 billion. That came after sales gains of 45%, 41% and 35%.
MercadoLibre Stock Rated Among Top 4%
The upgraded Composite Rating means MercadoLibre stock currently tops 96% of all other stocks in terms of key performance metrics and technical strength. Ranging from 1 (worst) to 99 (best), the Composite Rating reveals how strongly a company is showing the seven CAN SLIM telltale traits of winning stocks.
MercadoLibre stock broke out earlier, but is now about 4% below the prior 1,365.64 entry from a cup without handle. Its stock hit a nearly two-year high 1388.39 on Aug. 10, then retreated amid overall market consolidation. Wednesday afternoon it was on track for its fourth consecutive higher close, and was trading at 1340, up about 2.7% for the day.
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Fundamentals Sturdy, Funds Tiptoe Into Buying
Among its other ratings, MercadoLibre stock earns an 82 Earnings Per Share Rating, which means its recent quarterly and longer-term annual earnings growth is outpacing 82% of all stocks. Its Accumulation/Distribution Rating of C+ shows slightly more buying of its stock than selling by institutional investors over the last 13 weeks. One outstanding indicator is the A SMR Rating (sales + profit margins + return on equity), which reflects its strong fundamentals.
MercadoLibre earns the No. 2 rank among its peers in the 60-stock Retail-Internet industry group. Small-cap auction services company Liquidity Services is the No. 1-ranked stock in the group. Amazon.com ranks No. 5 in the group.
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