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 2026-06-20.
MercadoLibre, Inc. · Consumer Cyclical
$1,635.15
+45.0% upside to fair value
Grade B
High Quality
VS
PayPal Holdings, Inc. · Financial Services
$42.51
+45.0% upside to fair value
Grade B
QuantHub Verdict
PYPL trades at a lower forward P/E
(7.7x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MELI |
PYPL |
| Current Price |
$1,635.15 |
$42.51 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$2,370.97 |
$61.64 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+45.0%
|
+45.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$82.9B |
$37.5B |
| Forward P/E |
43.2x
|
7.7x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
27.0x
|
5.3x
|
| Price / Sales |
2.6x
|
1.1x
|
| Price / FCF |
7.7x
|
6.8x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+49.0%
|
+7.2%
|
| Gross Margin |
43.9%
|
46.1%
|
| Operating Margin |
9.6%
|
17.9%
|
| Return on Equity |
29.6%
|
25.1%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
12.92%
|
14.71%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Sell
|
Investment Thesis
MercadoLibre is a leading Latin American e-commerce and fintech platform with a durable competitive moat driven by its integrated logistics and financial services stack. The company commands approximately 30 to 35 percent market share in e-commerce and over 30 percent in online payments in key markets like Brazil. It is founder-influenced with a long-tenured management team and reinvests heavily …
PayPal Holdings, Inc. operates as a leading global digital payments platform with a competitive moat driven by its extensive network effects, brand recognition, and scale. Despite a durable business model with 2025 revenue of $33.17 billion growing at 4.3% year-over-year and a strong return on equity of 25.1%, the company faces slowing growth and margin pressures, reflected in a 13.5% decline in …
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MELI |
PYPL |
| Zone Low |
$1,778.23 |
$46.23 |
| Zone High |
$2,015.32 |
$52.39 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
Yes
|