MercadoLibre (MELI) Surged on Substantial Operating Profit Beat

Hardman Johnston Global Advisors, an investment management company, released its “Hardman Johnston Global Equity Strategy” first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here.  The strategy returned 0.43%, net of fees, in the quarter compared to -1.32% for the MSCI AC World Net Index. The Portfolio experienced a solid quarter relative to the market, despite a volatile environment. Industrials and Consumer Discretionary were the top sector contributors, while Information Technology and Energy detracted.  Europe was the top contributor from a regional standpoint, while emerging markets detracted. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.

In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Hardman Johnston Global Equity Strategy highlighted stocks such as MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI). MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) is an online commerce platform that operates Mercado Libre Marketplace and Mercado Pago FinTech platforms. The one-month return of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) was -1.29%, and its shares gained 60.24% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On June 27, 2025, MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) stock closed at $2,560.05 per share, with a market capitalization of $129.788 billion.

Hardman Johnston Global Equity Strategy stated the following regarding MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:

“Within Consumer Discretionary, Prosus NV and MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) were the strongest outperformers. MercadoLibre exhibited strong performance in the first quarter after reporting solid fourth quarter results, led by a substantial operating profit beat as the company demonstrated leverage throughout the business. The company offered a balanced framework for credit issuance in the quarter, combining a strong growth outlook with disciplined risk management, demonstrating prudent caution in lending to riskier cohorts via restricting card issuance in certain profiles and tightening payback periods. Advertising remains a key upside option for MercadoLibre with revenue dollars as a percentage of GMV growing to 2.1% but remaining well below international peers.”

Is MercadoLibre, Inc. (MELI) Among The Aggressive Stocks Picked by Hedge Funds?

A customer using their phone to access an online commerce platform.

MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 108 hedge fund portfolios held MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) at the end of the first quarter which was 96 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the undervalued AI stock set for massive gains.

In another article, we covered MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) and shared the list of companies with at least 30% annual growth rates. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors. While we acknowledge the potential of MELI as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.