Lakehouse Capital, a Sydney-based investment manager, published its “Lakehouse Global Growth Fund” investor letter for February 2026. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. February proved to be a tough month for the Fund, mainly because of the ongoing “AI disruption” narrative. During this period, the Fund’s net value declined by 14.6% after fees and expenses, whereas its benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index Net Total Returns (AUD), fell by only 0.4%. The Fund’s quality-growth investment style is facing pressure, especially in enterprise software, due to concerns over AI potentially replacing traditional software. However, the Fund believes that software companies with mission-critical enterprise platforms can leverage their strengths to thrive in an AI-driven world. Consequently, the Fund increased its holdings in companies that are more resilient than the market perceives. Despite the decrease in market value of the portfolio, the Fund believes that the fundamental growth of the holdings remains healthy. In addition, please check the Fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Lakehouse Global Growth Fund highlighted stocks like MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI). MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) is a leading online commerce platform in Latin America that operates Mercado Libre Marketplace and Mercado Pago FinTech platforms. On April 15, 2026, MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) closed at $1,872.12 per share. One-month return of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) was 12.31%, and its shares lost 10.82% over the past 52 weeks. MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) has a market capitalization of $94.91 billion.
Lakehouse Global Growth Fund stated the following regarding MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) is the leading e-commerce and fintech platform in Latin America. Often described as the Amazon and PayPal of LATAM, it benefits from powerful self-reinforcing network dynamics and an unmatched, highly efficient logistics network. The business has been consistently gaining share of the rapidly growing Latin American e-commerce market and despite the scale of their success to date (revenues have grown 7-fold over the last five years to US$28 billion), we believe there is still a long runway for future growth. Latin America offers one of the biggest ecommerce growth opportunities in the world. Penetration is roughly half the level seen in the US, UK and China, and we see no structural reason why the region should not reach similar levels.
Results released last month were very impressive, with revenue growth accelerating to 45% (vs 39% last quarter). While there was some slight compression in operating margins due to growth investments – primarily lowering the free shipping threshold in Brazil – this is a proven playbook for the company. We support the decision to sacrifice some near-term margin for long-term value creation and take comfort in the fact they are seeing immediate results. The strategy has driven new buyer acquisition, higher purchase frequency, and record conversion/retention rates, leading to significant market share gains. The market commonly punishes temporary reinvestment stories, and this case has been no different…” (Click here to read the full text)
MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) is in 37th position on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 113 hedge fund portfolios held MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 109 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) and shared JDP Capital Management’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2026 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
READ NEXT: 33 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 15 Stocks That Will Make You Rich in 10 Years.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
