TLDR
- MercadoLibre (MELI) fell about 8% after hours to around $1,600 after missing Q3 profit estimates.
- Net income hit $448 million, below the $476 million analysts expected, but up 6% from a year ago.
- Revenue rose 45% to $10.75 billion and beat estimates, led by Brazil.
- Operating margin dropped to 6.3% as fulfillment capacity grew about 20% from the prior quarter.
- The CEO said the company will not let outside AI shopping agents place orders on its platform for now.
MercadoLibre (MELI) stock dropped about 8% in extended trading on Wednesday, to around $1,600. The move came after the company reported third-quarter profit that fell short of Wall Street’s targets.
Net income came in at $448 million. Analysts had expected $476 million, according to LSEG data.
The profit still grew about 6% from a year earlier. That snapped a streak of three straight quarterly declines.
MERCADOLIBRE $MELI Q3’26 EARNINGS HIGHLIGHTS
🔹 Revenue: $10.75B (Est. $10.66B) 🟢; +45% YoY
🔹 EPS: $8.83 (Est. $9.36) 🔴; +6% YoY
🔹 Income from Operations: $676M (Est. $731M) 🔴
🔹 Net Income: $448M (Est. $476M) 🔴Customers & Assets:
🔹 MAUs: 93M; +29% YoY
🔹 Credit… pic.twitter.com/kOyJ4zw7EF— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) November 4, 2026
Adjusted earnings per share were $8.83, missing the $9.34 consensus by 51 cents. Revenue told a better story.
Net revenue and financial income rose 45% to $10.75 billion. That topped the $10.66 billion analysts expected, per Reuters.
Brazil led the growth. Foreign exchange neutral gross merchandise volume there rose 36%, with items sold up 45%.
Why Margins Took a Hit
Operating income was $676 million, which works out to a 6.3% margin. A year earlier, the margin was nearly 10%, and analysts had looked for about 7%.
The company grew its fulfillment capacity by about 20% from the previous quarter. Last year, the same jump was 10%.
Chief Financial Officer Martin de los Santos explained the timing to Reuters. “The quarter when you are building capacity, you don’t have the revenues yet, so you have the cost,” he said.
He added that the hit should ease. The company expects to make up the margin squeeze in the following quarter.
Free shipping also cost more, especially after expansions in Argentina and Brazil. MercadoLibre lowered its free shipping thresholds, so it now ships more small, cheaper orders.
Net shipping margin fell about 200 basis points as a share of gross merchandise volume since the first quarter of 2025. Higher fuel prices added to the bill, and the company raised shipping fees for merchants in response.
Sales and marketing costs rose to 11.6% of net revenue, up from 11.2% in the prior quarter. The company pointed to its affiliate program in Brazil.
Gross merchandise volume grew 38% to $23 billion. Mexico was slower, with growth of 21% as tax reform and weaker spending weighed on demand.
Argentina posted 40% growth despite soft consumer conditions. The company said it gained market share in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina.
Fintech and AI Updates
At Mercado Pago, total payment volume jumped 53% to $109 billion. Fintech monthly active users rose 29% to 93 million.
The credit portfolio grew 62% to nearly $18 billion, though that pace was slower than in recent quarters. De los Santos said the company is being “a bit more conservative” with new loans in Brazil and Argentina.
CEO Ariel Szarfsztejn said MercadoLibre will not let AI shopping agents tap its inventory and place orders for users, at least for now. He said the company wants to build that experience in-house.
An AI shopping assistant is being tested with a small slice of users. Few details on its early results have been shared.
The stock is down about 14% this year, after climbing nearly 140% between 2023 and 2025. The company also closed a $1 billion investment grade bond issue in September.
