JDP Capital Management, an investment management company, released its “Survivor & Thriver Fund” first-quarter 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the first quarter, the fund declined 15.1% net to investors compared to the S&P 500’s -4.3% return. Concerns about AI destruction fears and consumer softness impacted market sentiment in 2025, particularly affecting interest rate-sensitive sectors. The beginning of 2026 saw the continuation of AI-disruption worries intensified by the war in Iran and rising oil prices. The letter highlighted Survivor and Thriver criteria for resilient businesses, including adaptability, pricing power, robust capital allocation, and alignment between management and shareholders. The firm believes that companies with insulated growth runways may become more valuable if the economic slowdown continues. Please review the Portfolio’s top five holdings to gain insights into their key selections for 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, JDP Capital Management highlighted stocks like MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) as a newly added position. 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 13, 2026, MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) stock closed at $1,831.93 per share. One-month return of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) was 6.01%, and its shares lost 13.52% over the past 52 weeks. MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) has a market capitalization of $92.87 billion.
JDP Capital Management stated the following regarding MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) is a classic Survivor & Thriver business but that we rarely see on sale. MELI is the dominant e-commerce, fintech platform and logistics provider in Latin America, ahead of Amazon, Shopee and smaller regional competitors. MELI is run by founder-operators who are aggressively reinvesting in the business for the next decade. Similar to Amazon in the early 2000s, using a P/E ratio to assess MELI’s earnings power is a bad idea. That said, at an equity valuation of $85 billion or $1,600 per share, we acquired our stake for less than 1x GMV and ~18x estimated 2026 earnings.3 Unlike US or European with a similar valuation and market position, MELI should be able to continue growing north of 25% annually for years ahead, making our entry price very attractive.
MELI is currently in a significant macro-driven drawdown, made worse by Iran war and sell-off in emerging market stocks. Prior to the recent 40% decline, the stock had also not fully kept up with fundamental growth and geographic expansion in my opinion, especially in Mexico…” (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 the list of stocks that will skyrocket when oil prices fall. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2026 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
