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 2026-05-05.
MercadoLibre, Inc. · Consumer Cyclical
$1,767.42
+41.4% upside to fair value
High Conviction
Grade A
VS
PayPal Holdings, Inc. · Financial Services
$50.39
+110.0% upside to fair value
Grade B
QuantHub Verdict
PYPL has more upside to fair value
(+110.0%).
PYPL trades at a lower forward P/E
(9.0x).
These are model outputs — not personalized investment advice.
See all research →
Valuation & Fundamentals
| Metric |
MELI |
PYPL |
| Current Price |
$1,767.42 |
$50.39 |
| Fair Value Estimate |
$2,500.00 |
$105.84 |
| Upside to Fair Value |
+41.4%
|
+110.0%
|
| Market Cap |
$89.6B |
$45.3B |
| Forward P/E |
35.0x
|
9.0x
|
| EV / EBITDA |
18.5x
|
6.1x
|
| Price / Sales |
3.1x
|
1.4x
|
| Price / FCF |
8.9x
|
8.2x
|
| Revenue Growth YoY |
+39.1%
|
+3.7%
|
| Gross Margin |
44.5%
|
46.6%
|
| Operating Margin |
11.1%
|
18.3%
|
| Return on Equity |
33.7%
|
25.9%
|
| Dividend Yield |
0% |
0% |
| FCF Yield |
12.1%
|
12.27%
|
| Analyst Consensus |
Strong Buy
|
Sell
|
Investment Thesis
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…
PayPal Holdings, Inc. operates as a leading digital payments platform offering transaction processing and value-added financial services such as consumer credit and BNPL products. The business quality is medium due to a narrowing competitive moat amid increasing pressure from big tech competitors and slowing growth in its core branded checkout segment. The stock is currently mispriced and cheap, …
Accumulation Zones
| Metric |
MELI |
PYPL |
| Zone Low |
$1,875.00 |
$79.38 |
| Zone High |
$2,125.00 |
$89.96 |
| In Buy Zone? |
Yes
|
Yes
|