MA vs MELI: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of Mastercard Incorporated and MercadoLibre, Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-04-11.
Mastercard Incorporated · Financial Services
$498.66
+22.3% upside to fair value
High Conviction
Grade A-
VS
MercadoLibre, Inc. · Consumer Cyclical
$1,767.42
+41.4% upside to fair value
High Conviction
Grade A
QuantHub Verdict
MELI has more upside to fair value
(+41.4%).
MA trades at a lower forward P/E
(25.5x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MA |
MELI |
| Current Price |
$498.66 |
$1,767.42 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$610.00 |
$2,500.00 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+22.3%
|
+41.4%
|
| Market Cap |
$445.0B |
$89.6B |
| Forward P/E |
25.5x
|
35.0x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
22.4x
|
18.5x
|
| Price / Sales |
13.6x
|
3.1x
|
| Price / FCF |
26.0x
|
8.9x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+16.4%
|
+39.1%
|
| Gross Margin |
83.4%
|
44.5%
|
| Operating Margin |
59.2%
|
11.1%
|
| Return on Equity |
198.4%
|
33.7%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0.65% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
3.84%
|
12.1%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Strong Buy
|
Investment Thesis
Mastercard operates one of the world's two dominant payment networks, processing over $9 trillion in gross dollar volume annually across 220+ countries. The business generates 83% gross margins and 46% net margins with zero credit risk because Mastercard never lends money, only collecting tolls on every transaction. Value-Added Services (analytics, fraud prevention, cybersecurity) now comprise 41…
MercadoLibre is the dominant e-commerce and fintech ecosystem across Latin America, operating the largest marketplace and digital payments platform in a region with 670M+ people where e-commerce penetration is still under 15%. Revenue grew 39% to $28.9B in FY2025 with $10.8B in free cash flow — a 12% FCF yield at current prices. The company is trading at its 5-year P/S minimum (3.1x) and P/FCF mi…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MA |
MELI |
| Zone Low |
$460.00 |
$1,875.00 |
| Zone High |
$515.00 |
$2,125.00 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
Yes
|