MELI vs PYPL: Which Is the Better Buy?
Side-by-side comparison of MercadoLibre, Inc. and PayPal Holdings, Inc. — fair value, conviction, valuation metrics, and QuantHub research signals.
Updated 2026-09-17.
MercadoLibre, Inc. · Consumer Cyclical
$1,828.94
+25.8% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B+
High Quality
VS
PayPal Holdings, Inc. · Financial Services
$52.71
+9.1% upside to fair value
Med Conviction
Grade B-
QuantHub Verdict
MELI has more upside to fair value
(+25.8%).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MELI |
PYPL |
| Current Price |
$1,828.94 |
$52.71 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$2,300.00 |
$57.50 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+25.8%
|
+9.1%
|
| Market Cap |
$92.7B |
$45.1B |
| Forward P/E |
—
|
—
|
| EV / EBITDA |
33.0x
|
6.8x
|
| Price / Sales |
2.6x
|
1.3x
|
| Price / FCF |
7.4x
|
7.2x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+49.8%
|
+4.8%
|
| Gross Margin |
42.7%
|
45.8%
|
| Operating Margin |
8.3%
|
18.8%
|
| Return on Equity |
26.5%
|
24.4%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
1.06% |
| FCF Yield |
13.44%
|
13.97%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Buy
|
Hold
|
Investment Thesis
MercadoLibre operates Latin America's leading ecommerce marketplace alongside Mercado Pago payments, credit, logistics, advertising and loyalty products, creating a broad ecosystem with meaningful network effects and cross-sell. Business momentum remains strong: revenue and financial income grew 49.8% year over year in the most recent quarter to $10.169 billion, GMV increased 44%, TPV rose 56%, a…
PayPal operates a global digital-payments platform spanning branded checkout, Venmo, Braintree merchant processing, credit products and fraud-risk infrastructure across approximately 200 markets. Business quality is medium: its two-sided network, trusted brand, broad merchant distribution and risk capabilities remain meaningful assets, but its highest-value branded-checkout franchise is under com…
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MELI |
PYPL |
| Zone Low |
$1,725.00 |
$43.12 |
| Zone High |
$1,955.00 |
$48.88 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
No
|