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MercadoLibre

NASDAQ: MELI · USD

MercadoLibre (MELI) Economic Moat Analysis56

Competitive advantages, dated evidence and erosion risks.

Narrow economic moat

MercadoLibre has a narrow moat supported by its third-party marketplace, integrated payments and established fulfillment network. Reported increases in purchase frequency, category breadth and seller participation strengthen the evidence for network effects and repeat demand. Shipping efficiencies support the ecosystem, but relative cost superiority remains unverified. Pricing concessions, higher marketing intensity and substantial margin compression constrain monetization. The evidence supports a current advantage, while exceptional durability, substantial switching costs and broad pricing power remain unproven.

Network effects

The predominantly third-party marketplace connects a substantial buyer audience with sellers, while integrated payments, fulfillment and advertising data reinforce its usefulness. Reported growth in purchase frequency and active sellers supports an operating network advantage, although cross-side causality is not independently isolated.

Durability
Multi-year transaction growth and an established fulfillment network support persistence. Recent engagement improvements strengthen the case beyond scale alone, but their dependence on subsidies and continued investment limits confidence in exceptional durability.
Competitors
Comparison not established
Erosion risks
Shipping and seller-fee concessions may attract activity without establishing durable monetization. Rising marketing intensity, nonexclusive carrier relationships and credit expansion increase the cost and complexity of sustaining the ecosystem. Competitor-specific performance is absent.
What would invalidate the thesis
The thesis would weaken materially if buyer frequency, category breadth and active seller participation declined persistently despite continued investment, or if withdrawing concessions reversed engagement gains. Persistent deterioration in contribution economics as volume grows would undermine the claim that network scale creates defensible economic value.
Evidence (10) · Counterevidence (6)

Changes since the previous analysis

  • Retain the narrow verdict and structural advantage grade of 3. Current passages strengthen the engagement evidence without establishing exceptional durability or independently measured competitor superiority.
  • Raise pricing_power.retention from 2 to 3: reported items per buyer, category breadth, cohort retention and fintech activity provide more direct evidence than aggregate user growth alone.
  • Keep realized_pricing at 1; current evidence adds conditional seller take-rate discounts to shipping concessions. These are observed pricing decisions, without proof that competition forced them.
  • Keep capital_discipline at 2, now explicitly incorporating the issuer's adjusted free cash flow reconciliation: $158 million for the six months ended June 30, 2026 versus $512 million in 2025, after specified restrictions, investment and fintech financing adjustments.
  • Keep governance at 2 while adding the June 2026 election outcome: all Class I nominees were elected, although Stelleo Passos Tolda received more withheld than affirmative votes. No reason for that dissent is supplied.

Evidence limitations

  • Only supplied issuer disclosures were used. No named competitor is established as a rival in these passages; financing institutions and service partners are not treated as competitors. Competitor-specific cost, market-share and customer comparisons remain unavailable.
  • Reported operating achievements support the assessment, but network causality, comparative logistics superiority and management's anticipated investment paybacks remain partly assertions or inference. Generic risks are not treated as realized competitive losses.
  • Cohort retention improvements are reported without retention percentages, methodology or controls. Price concessions may contribute to engagement; persistence after their withdrawal has not been demonstrated.
  • Fintech monthly active user definitions differ between the annual and interim disclosures, including qualifying insurance and loan activity. Buyer metrics include food delivery from the second quarter of 2025. Aggregate growth is therefore not treated as a clean retention measure.
  • Marketplace-wide fee realization, advertiser pricing, price elasticity and comprehensive contractual pricing rights are absent. Shipping and selected seller discounts support a bounded pricing assessment rather than a conclusion about every revenue line.
  • Compensation arrangements are approved programs, not merely proposals, but complete executive ownership exposure is not established by the supplied fragments. Governance provisions demonstrate arrangements rather than oversight effectiveness.
  • All supplied source dates retain dateKind 'filed'; shareholder-letter filing dates are not assumed to be separate publication dates. Operating periods and meeting dates are distinguished from filing dates.
  • Adjusted free cash flow is an issuer-defined measure incorporating net fintech financing and specified restrictions; it is not unqualified owner cash flow. No overall score or financial-category grades are supplied.

Financial indicators to test against the thesis

Calculated from annual filings. Missing data remains unavailable. Detailed financial charts remain in the other topics.

Financial indicators to test against the thesis
PeriodGross marginOperating marginROICFCF margin
202142.5%6.2%9.2%5.5%
202247.9%9.6%17.9%23.1%
202350.2%14.6%28.9%30.7%
202446.1%12.7%33.2%34.0%
202544.5%11.1%22.8%37.3%

Pricing power44

  • Pricing outcomes

    The lower Brazilian free-shipping threshold and conditional seller take-rate discounts demonstrate concessions in shipping and selected marketplace fees. They may be deliberate growth investments, but show weak realized monetization in the observed areas. Volume and engagement improvements do not establish stronger realized pricing elsewhere.

  • Customer demand

    Reported items per buyer rose 14% year over year in Q2 2026, category breadth increased, newer Brazilian cohorts showed higher retention, and fintech daily-to-monthly activity increased across four major markets. These demonstrate stronger repeat demand, although cohort rates are undisclosed and concessions may support engagement.

  • Margin resilience

    Operating margin fell from 12.5% to 6.8% for the first half of 2026, with shipping concessions, operating costs and credit provisions contributing. Reported shipping efficiencies and limited positive contribution economics provide offsets, but do not establish strong protection of consolidated margins during the investment period.

  • Pricing freedom

    MercadoLibre separately determines customer shipping charges and has implemented conditional seller-fee discounts, demonstrating discretion over important terms. The disclosed volume-versus-margin tradeoff constrains the economic value of that freedom. Comprehensive marketplace, advertising and fintech contractual pricing rights are not supplied.

Management63

  • Capital discipline

    Actual fulfillment investment accompanied operating expansion and positive cash generation. However, first-half 2026 lending investment and credit provisions increased while net income and issuer-defined adjusted free cash flow declined. Customer-fund inflows and net fintech financing limit interpretation of cash generation; investment paybacks remain incompletely demonstrated.

  • Incentive alignment

    Approved retention programs distribute cash awards over up to six years, require continued employment and link half the target award to stock-price performance. Annual bonuses include financial and operational goals. These are substantive alignment mechanisms, tempered by fixed payments, cash settlement and incomplete evidence of executive ownership.

  • Execution

    Multi-year transaction expansion, an operating network with more than 50 fulfillment facilities in Q1 2026, and reported improvements in purchase frequency and unit shipping costs demonstrate strong execution through operating outcomes. Margin compression tempers the assessment, and results span leadership periods rather than isolating one executive's contribution.

  • Governance

    Majority board independence, CEO exclusion from CEO pay discussions and direct auditor reporting support oversight. The classified board limits annual accountability. June 2026 election results also show substantial dissent toward one elected director, with no explanation supplied. These arrangements and outcomes support a mixed assessment of governance.

Sources and methodology

Current publication · Updated 23/10/2026 · Version 10

AI interpretation based on checked source excerpts. Issuer assertions and evidence limitations remain explicit.

Policy quality-scores-3: six equally weighted categories. The overall score requires full coverage. Missing inputs are not zero. Qualitative grades are sourced interpretations, not probabilities. 5/6 · 29/10/2026

Moat56

Equal-weight average of four evidence-backed rubric grades (0–4), scaled to 100.

structural advantage · 3/4 · A predominantly third-party marketplace, integrated payment settlement and established fulfillment infrastructure demonstrate a strong operating foundation. Reported increases in purchase frequency and active sellers strengthen the network-effect interpretation. The passages do not isolate cross-side causality or establish superiority against named rivals.

durability · 2/4 · Multi-year operating expansion and a fulfillment network built over years support persistence. However, recent engagement gains accompany pricing concessions, and carrier access is nonexclusive. This supports a durable advantage with meaningful uncertainty about monetization and replication, rather than exceptional demonstrated protection.

customer dependency · 2/4 · Seller inventory stored in fulfillment centers and payment settlement integrated into marketplace transactions create operational embeddedness. Broader purchasing and improved cohort retention show increasing usefulness. These disclosures do not demonstrate exclusivity, material exit penalties or dependence on MercadoLibre for most customer activity.

erosion resilience · 2/4 · Growing seller participation, deeper buying activity and reported unit shipping efficiencies indicate continuing relevance and adaptation. Nevertheless, marketing intensity increased and operating margins compressed substantially while concessions expanded. The combined evidence shows resilience that remains costly to sustain, without demonstrating realized competitive displacement.

Pricing power44

Equal-weight average of four evidence-backed rubric grades (0–4), scaled to 100.

realized pricing · 1/4 · The lower Brazilian free-shipping threshold and conditional seller take-rate discounts demonstrate concessions in shipping and selected marketplace fees. They may be deliberate growth investments, but show weak realized monetization in the observed areas. Volume and engagement improvements do not establish stronger realized pricing elsewhere.

retention · 3/4 · Reported items per buyer rose 14% year over year in Q2 2026, category breadth increased, newer Brazilian cohorts showed higher retention, and fintech daily-to-monthly activity increased across four major markets. These demonstrate stronger repeat demand, although cohort rates are undisclosed and concessions may support engagement.

margin resilience · 1/4 · Operating margin fell from 12.5% to 6.8% for the first half of 2026, with shipping concessions, operating costs and credit provisions contributing. Reported shipping efficiencies and limited positive contribution economics provide offsets, but do not establish strong protection of consolidated margins during the investment period.

contractual freedom · 2/4 · MercadoLibre separately determines customer shipping charges and has implemented conditional seller-fee discounts, demonstrating discretion over important terms. The disclosed volume-versus-margin tradeoff constrains the economic value of that freedom. Comprehensive marketplace, advertising and fintech contractual pricing rights are not supplied.

Predictability87

5 consecutive published annual periods. Equal weights: nondeclining revenue frequency; revenue-growth volatility (5–40pp); positive FCF frequency; FCF-margin volatility (3–20pp). Stability indicator, not a growth forecast.

Nondeclining revenue years (%)
100.00
Revenue growth volatility (pp)
5.95
Positive FCF years (%)
100.00
FCF margin volatility (pp)
11.31
observedAnnualPeriods
5.00

Financial strength75

Equal-weight grades: debt/FCF (1–8x), net debt/earnings before interest and tax (0–5x), interest service (1–12x), current ratio (0.75–2x). Earnings use reported operating income, an original issuer-reported unadjusted EBIT reconciled to net income, income tax and signed net interest, or reported pretax profit plus reported gross interest expense. Reported EBIT is distinct from GAAP operating income and gross interest. Interest service uses earnings/interest expense; if unavailable, it uses reported operating cash flow/cash interest paid, without relabeling cash paid as accrued expense. Nonpositive cash flow/earnings score 0 for their service component; reported zero interest with a positive numerator scores 100. Net cash scores 100 for net leverage. Missing disclosures remain unavailable. General nonfinancial-company rubric, not a credit rating; exceptional and nonoperating gains are not normalized out. IFRS finance-cost and cash-flow classifications retain their reported scope.

debtFcfGrade
100.00
netDebtEbitGrade
65.49
interestCoverageGrade
100.00
currentRatioGrade
33.80
Debt / FCF (x)
0.85
Net debt / operating income (x)
1.73
Current ratio (x)
1.17
cashInterestPaid
611.00
cashInterestCoverage
19.83

Capital allocation—

Missing required inputs: sbcRevenue. Three-year equal-weight indicators: pretax return on average invested capital (0–25%; equity + debt − cash, each year and its prior year), share-count growth (0–5%, lower better), share-based cost/revenue (2–20%, lower better), consolidated FCF/net income (0–1x). Return uses reported operating income, an original issuer-reported unadjusted EBIT reconciled to net income, income tax and signed net interest, or EBIT calculated from reported pretax profit plus reported gross interest expense; the issuer-reported EBIT is distinct from GAAP operating income and gross interest; exceptional/nonoperating gains are not normalized out. Share-based cost uses the reported cash-flow add-back or, if absent, separately reported recognized compensation expense; the latter never becomes an FCF adjustment. Nonpositive net income scores 0 for cash conversion; absent income/FCF stays unavailable. ROIC remains undefined for nonpositive invested capital; the explicit asset-return alternative does not change the ROIC chart. Missing financial inputs alone never trigger an alternative. Does not establish acquisition quality or buyback timing.

3-year pre-tax operating return (%)
40.12
3-year average dilution (%)
0.23
cashConversionGrade
100.00

Management63

Equal-weight average of four evidence-backed rubric grades (0–4), scaled to 100.

capital discipline · 2/4 · Actual fulfillment investment accompanied operating expansion and positive cash generation. However, first-half 2026 lending investment and credit provisions increased while net income and issuer-defined adjusted free cash flow declined. Customer-fund inflows and net fintech financing limit interpretation of cash generation; investment paybacks remain incompletely demonstrated.

incentive alignment · 3/4 · Approved retention programs distribute cash awards over up to six years, require continued employment and link half the target award to stock-price performance. Annual bonuses include financial and operational goals. These are substantive alignment mechanisms, tempered by fixed payments, cash settlement and incomplete evidence of executive ownership.

execution · 3/4 · Multi-year transaction expansion, an operating network with more than 50 fulfillment facilities in Q1 2026, and reported improvements in purchase frequency and unit shipping costs demonstrate strong execution through operating outcomes. Margin compression tempers the assessment, and results span leadership periods rather than isolating one executive's contribution.

governance · 2/4 · Majority board independence, CEO exclusion from CEO pay discussions and direct auditor reporting support oversight. The classified board limits annual accountability. June 2026 election results also show substantial dissent toward one elected director, with no explanation supplied. These arrangements and outcomes support a mixed assessment of governance.

Evidence

Third-party sellers (“3P”) account for most of the GMV transacted on the Marketplace.

2026-08-06 filed Form 10-Q, Business Overview: third-party marketplace composition · Filed 06/08/2026

Year Ended December 31, (1) 2025 2024 2023 (In millions, except percentages) Fintech monthly active users (2) 78 61 46 Unique active buyers (3) 121 100 85 Gross merchandise volume (4) $ 65,037 $ 51,467 $ 44,749 Number of items sold (5) 2,429 1,787 1,404 Total payment volume (6) $ 277,823 $ 196,660 $ 146,738 Acquiring total payments volume (7) $ 188,105 $ 142,200 $ 115,953 Total payment transactions (8) 15,470 11,355 7,595 NIMAL (9) 22.4 % 28.2 % 36.2 % Capital expenditures $ 1,327 $ 860 $ 509 Depreciation and amortization $ 818 $ 617 $ 524 (1) Figures have been calculated using rounded amounts.

2026-02-25 filed Form 10-K, operating metrics for years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023 · Filed 25/02/2026

Our logistics network is built around fulfillment centers (which account for more than half of shipments), where sellers place their inventory in our warehouses, and cross-docking, where we collect items sold from sellers directly or via a network of thousands of partner stores (“MELI Places”) where sellers drop off sold items that need to be fed into our logistics network.

2026-08-06 filed Form 10-Q, Business Overview: fulfillment and cross-docking network · Filed 06/08/2026

In the countries in which Mercado Pago operates, it processes and settles all transactions on our Marketplace.

2026-08-06 filed Form 10-Q, Business Overview: Mercado Pago settlement of marketplace transactions · Filed 06/08/2026

The platform enables sellers and brands to access the millions of consumers who browse and purchase on our Marketplace, as well as the first-party data that all of these engagements generate.

2026-08-06 filed Form 10-Q, Business Overview: advertiser access to consumers and first-party data · Filed 06/08/2026

In Commerce, users are transacting more frequently, with items per buyer rising 14% YoY – this was led by Brazil, where growth was 19% YoY, highlighting the success of our investments and the resilience of our value proposition.

2026-08-05 filed Q2 2026 shareholder letter, Commerce engagement: items per buyer · Filed 05/08/2026

And their relationship with our marketplace is broadening, as the share of users purchasing three or more categories rose almost 6ppts YoY to an all-time high.

2026-08-05 filed Q2 2026 shareholder letter, Commerce engagement: category breadth · Filed 05/08/2026

And new buyer cohorts after the change are purchasing more items across more categories, with higher retention, than the cohorts that preceded them.

2026-08-05 filed Q2 2026 shareholder letter, Brazil: post-threshold buyer cohort outcomes · Filed 05/08/2026

The result was a meaningful improvement in our price competitiveness index, and a sharp acceleration in active sellers, which grew 29% YoY in Q2'26.

2026-08-05 filed Q2 2026 shareholder letter, Brazil: price competitiveness and active sellers · Filed 05/08/2026

It has taken years of investment in technology and operational expertise to build today's fulfillment network, which had more than 50 facilities as of Q1'26, and handled 55% of shipments, growing 39% YoY.

2026-05-07 filed Q1 2026 shareholder letter, Fulfillment: facilities and shipment penetration · Filed 07/05/2026

Building on this momentum, in April we introduced PIX discounts for buyers and discounts on take rates for sellers in certain categories and ASP ranges, conditional on listings having competitive pricing.

2026-08-05 filed Q2 2026 shareholder letter, Brazil: PIX and conditional seller take-rate discounts · Filed 05/08/2026

The following table presents sales and marketing expenses for the periods indicated: Six Months Ended June 30, Change from 2025 to 2026 Three Months Ended June 30, Change from 2025 to 2026 2026 2025 in Dollars in % 2026 2025 in Dollars in % (In millions, except percentages) (In millions, except percentages) Sales and marketing $ 2,113 $ 1,350 $ 763 56.5% $ 1,131 $ 751 $ 380 50.6% As a percentage of net revenues and financial income 11.1 % 10.6 % 11.1 % 11.1 % For the six-month period ended June 30, 2026, the increase in sales and marketing expenses as compared to the same period in 2025 was primarily attributable to a: i) $482 million increase in online and offline marketing expenses mainly in Brazil and Mexico; ii) $155 million increase in our buyer protection program expenses; and iii) $90 million increase in salaries and wages mainly related to the increase of 37% in our sales and marketing headcount.

2026-08-06 filed Form 10-Q, sales and marketing expenses for six and three months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025 · Filed 06/08/2026

For the six and three-month periods ended June 30, 2026, as compared to the same periods in 2025, our operating income margin decreased from 12.5% and 12.2% to 6.8% and 6.7%, respectively.

2026-08-06 filed Form 10-Q, operating margin comparison for six and three months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025 · Filed 06/08/2026

This decrease is mainly explained by the reduction of our free shipping threshold in Brazil, together with an increase in our shipping operating costs, our cost of net revenues and financial expenses and our provision of doubtful accounts, driven by the expansion of our credit card portfolio, as a percentage of net revenues and financial income, partially offset by a decrease in product and technology development, as a percentage of net revenues and financial income.

2026-08-06 filed Form 10-Q, explanation of operating margin compression · Filed 06/08/2026

We rely on a number of local carriers (through non-exclusivity agreements) to receive the inventories for our first-party business and on third parties to ship orders to customers.

2026-02-25 filed Form 10-K, carrier reliance and nonexclusive agreements · Filed 25/02/2026

The decision to raise the shipping fees charged to users may have a negative effect on Mercado Envios’ shipping volume, and the decision not to do so may result in a decrease in the operating margins of our commerce operations.

2026-02-25 filed Form 10-K, shipping fee versus volume and margin tradeoff · Filed 25/02/2026

We generally pay local carriers directly for their shipping costs, and separately decide the shipping costs paid by our customers.

2026-02-25 filed Form 10-K, separate determination of customer shipping charges · Filed 25/02/2026

We are seeing significant progress on this front, with the YoY reduction in Brazil in local currency accelerating to 17% in Q1'26 from 11% in Q4'25.

2026-05-07 filed Q1 2026 shareholder letter, Brazil local-currency unit shipping cost reductions · Filed 07/05/2026

Free and slow shipments are now variable contribution- positive across half of the ASP ranges between R$19 and R$79, as technology, scale, and the use of previously unused capacity continue to bring costs down.

2026-08-05 filed Q2 2026 shareholder letter, variable contribution of free and slow shipments by ASP range · Filed 05/08/2026

Users are becoming stickier here too, with the ratio of daily to monthly active users rising YoY in each of our four largest markets.

2026-08-05 filed Q2 2026 shareholder letter, Fintech daily-to-monthly activity in four largest markets · Filed 05/08/2026

dollars) (Unaudited) Six Months Ended June 30, 2026 2025 Cash flows from operations: Net income $ 883 $ 1,017 Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities: Unrealized foreign currency (gains) losses, net (124) 95 Depreciation and amortization 538 371 Accrued interest, financial income and other revenues (681) (325) Non cash interest expense and amortization of debt issuance costs and other charges 205 173 Provision for doubtful accounts 2,520 1,293 Provision for contingencies 88 51 Results on derivative instruments 153 52 Results on digital assets at fair value — (4) Long term retention program (“LTRP”) accrued compensation 165 188 Deferred income taxes (606) (154) Changes in assets and liabilities: Receivables (1,535) (1,057) Inventories (226) (100) Other assets (179) (243) Payables and accrued expenses 1,038 423 Funds payable to customers 2,456 1,636 Amounts payable due to credit and debit card transactions 1,209 415 Other liabilities 6 95 Operating lease liabilities (255) (198) Interest received from investments 82 220 Net cash provided by operating activities 5,737 3,948 Cash flows from investing activities: Purchases of investments (5,436) (6,449) Proceeds from sale and maturity of investments 6,140 6,803 Proceeds from settlements of derivative instruments 23 2 Payments from settlements of derivative instruments (108) (8) Changes in loans receivable, net (4,069) (2,856) Investments in property and equipment, intangible assets and intangible assets at fair value (712) (559) Net cash used in investing activities (4,162) (3,067) Cash flows from financing activities: Proceeds from loans payable and other financial liabilities 42,544 18,725 Payments on loans payable and other financing liabilities (41,408) (17,621) Payments of finance lease liabilities (32) (26) Common Stock repurchased (1) — Net cash provided by financing activities 1,103 1,078 Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents 548 230 Net increase in cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents 3,226 2,189 Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents, beginning of the period 13,537 4,699 Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents, end of the period $ 16,763 $ 6,888 The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements.

2026-08-06 filed Form 10-Q, unaudited cash flows for six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025 · Filed 06/08/2026

Adjusted free cash flow and Net (decrease) increase in available cash, investments and digital assets Adjusted free cash flow Adjusted free cash flow represents cash from operating activities less the increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents and investments related to customer funds due to regulatory requirements and other restrictions and equity securities held at cost, investments in property and equipment and intangible assets, changes in loans receivable, net and net proceeds from/payments on loans payable and other financial liabilities related to our Fintech solutions, since we consider those liabilities as the working capital of the Fintech activities.

2026-08-05 filed Q2 2026 shareholder letter, adjusted free cash flow definition · Filed 05/08/2026

From the second quarter of 2025 onwards, we have also included increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents and investments restricted due to management restriction policies and digital assets as an adjustment in the calculation of our adjusted free cash flow.

2026-08-05 filed Q2 2026 shareholder letter, adjusted free cash flow definition change effective second quarter 2025 · Filed 05/08/2026

The following table shows a reconciliation of Net cash provided by operating activities to Adjusted free cash flow and Net (decrease) increase in available cash, investments and digital assets: Six Months Ended June 30, 2026 2025 (In millions) Net cash provided by operating activities ("CFO") $ 5,737 $ 3,948 Adjustments to reconcile CFO to Adjusted free cash flow (1) 7 109 Increase in cash and cash equivalents and investments related to customer funds due to regulatory requirements and other restrictions (including management restriction policies) and equity securities held at cost (2,023) (1,416) Investments in property and equipment and intangible assets (712) (543) Changes in loans receivable, net (4,069) (2,856) Proceeds from loans payable and other financial liabilities related to our Fintech solutions, net 1,218 1,270 Adjusted free cash flow 158 512 Payments on loans payable and other financial liabilities, related to our Commerce and Corporate activities, net (199) (192) Other investing and/or financing activities (1) (6) Effect of exchange rate changes on available cash and investments 83 232 Net increase in available cash, investments and digital assets $ 41 $ 546 Available cash, investments and digital assets (2), at the beginning of the period 6,710 4,603 Available cash, investments and digital assets (2), at the end of the period 6,751 5,149 Net cash used in investing activities (4,162) (3,067) Net cash provided by financing activities 1,103 1,078 (1) Includes accrued interest and financial income net of interest received from available and restricted investments, and results on digital assets.

2026-08-05 filed Q2 2026 shareholder letter, six-month adjusted free cash flow reconciliation · Filed 05/08/2026

(2) Includes cash and cash equivalents (excluding cash and cash equivalents restricted due to management restriction policies), short-term investments (excluding time deposits, foreign debt securities and foreign government debt securities restricted and held in guarantee) and long-term investments (excluding foreign government debt securities restricted and held in guarantee, investments held in VIEs as a consequence of securitization transactions and equity securities held at cost) and digital assets.

2026-08-05 filed Q2 2026 shareholder letter, available cash, investments and digital assets exclusions · Filed 05/08/2026

61 | MercadoLibre, Inc. Table of Contents Equity price risk Our board of directors, upon the recommendation of the compensation committee, approved the 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 Long Term Retention Programs (the “2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 LTRPs,” respectively), under which certain eligible employees have the opportunity to receive cash payments annually for a period of up to six years.

2026-08-06 filed Form 10-Q, board-approved 2021–2026 long-term retention programs · Filed 06/08/2026

In order to receive the full target award under the 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and/or 2026 LTRPs, each eligible employee must remain employed as of each applicable payment date.

2026-08-06 filed Form 10-Q, continued employment condition for long-term awards · Filed 06/08/2026

The 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 LTRP awards are generally payable as follows: ■the eligible employee will receive 16.66% of half of his or her target 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and/or 2026 LTRP bonus once a year for a period of six years, with the first payment occurring no later than April 30, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027, respectively (the “2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 or 2026 Annual Fixed Payment,” respectively); and ■on each date we pay the respective Annual Fixed Payment to an eligible employee, he or she will also receive a payment (the “2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 or 2026 Variable Payment”) equal to the product of (i) 16.66% of half of the target 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and/or 2026 LTRP bonus and (ii) the quotient of (a) divided by (b), where (a), the numerator, equals the Applicable Year Stock Price (as defined below) and (b), the denominator, equals the average closing price of our common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market during the final 60 trading days of 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 defined as $1,431.26, $1,391.81, $888.69, $1,426.11, $1,944.47 and $2,094.65 for the 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 LTRPs, respectively.

2026-08-06 filed Form 10-Q, fixed and stock-price-linked cash award payment terms · Filed 06/08/2026

Annual Bonus Annual cash bonuses to compensate named executive officers for achieving short-term financial and operational goals (Net revenues and financial income, Income from operations, Total payment volume - adjusted, Competitive NPS) during the preceding fiscal year.

2026-04-23 filed proxy statement, annual bonus financial and operational goals · Filed 23/04/2026

As discussed in greater detail below in “Additional Governance Matters — Director Independence and Family Relationships” our board has determined that seven of the nine current members of our board are independent directors within the meaning of the listing standards of The NASDAQ Global Select Market (the “NASDAQ”) and our corporate governance guidelines.

2026-04-23 filed proxy statement, board determination of seven independent directors among nine current members · Filed 23/04/2026

Information as to the directors currently comprising each class of directors and the current term expiration date of each class of directors is set forth in the following table: Directors Currently Comprising Each Class Class Current Term Expiration Date Susan Segal Stelleo Passos Tolda Alejandro Nicolás Aguzin Class I 2026 Annual Meeting Nicolás Galperin Henrique Dubugras Richard Sanders Class II 2027 Annual Meeting Emiliano Calemzuk Marcos Galperin Martin Lawson Class III 2028 Annual Meeting At the recommendation of the nominating and corporate governance committee of our board, the board has nominated the following directors for election at the 2026 Annual Meeting: Director Nominee Class Expiration Date Susan Segal Stelleo Passos Tolda Alejandro Nicolás Aguzin Class I 2029 Annual Meeting A director elected to fill a vacancy will serve for the remainder of the term of the class of directors in which the vacancy occurred and until his or her successor is elected and qualified, or until his or her earlier death, resignation or removal.

2026-04-23 filed proxy statement, existing classified board terms and proposed Class I reelection terms · Filed 23/04/2026

The compensation committee establishes compensation levels for our chief executive officer on its own or in consultation with the compensation consultants it retains, if any, and our chief executive officer is not present during any of these discussions.

2026-04-23 filed proxy statement, CEO exclusion from CEO compensation discussions · Filed 23/04/2026

Our independent registered public accounting firm reports directly to the audit committee, and we limit the use of our auditors for non-audit services.

2026-04-23 filed proxy statement, auditor reporting to audit committee · Filed 23/04/2026

Proposal One — Election of Class I Directors: Nominee for Class I Directors For Withheld Susan Segal 36,780,151 2,269,483 Stelleo Passos Tolda 13,399,536 25,650,098 Alejandro Nicolás Aguzin 38,488,792 560,842 In addition, there were 3,868,152 broker non-votes associated with

2026-06-12 filed Form 8-K, June 9, 2026 annual meeting director election vote counts · Filed 12/06/2026

all Class I director nominees, approved (on an advisory basis) the Company’s executive compensation for fiscal year 2025 and ratified

2026-06-12 filed Form 8-K, annual meeting election and advisory compensation approval results · Filed 12/06/2026

Fintech monthly active users is defined as Fintech payers and/or collectors as of December 31, 2025, that, during the last month of the reporting period, performed at least one of the following actions during such month: 1) made a debit or credit card payment, 2) made a QR code payment, 3) made an off-platform online payment using our checkout or link of payment solutions while logged in to our Mercado Pago fintech platform, 4) made an investment or employed any of our savings solutions, 5) purchased an insurance policy, 6) took out a loan through our lending solution, or 7) received the payment from a sale or transaction either on or off marketplace.

2026-02-25 filed Form 10-K, fintech monthly active user definition · Filed 25/02/2026

(2) Fintech monthly active users is defined as Fintech payers and/or collectors that, during the last month of the reporting period, performed at least one of the following actions during such month: 1) made a debit or credit card payment, 2) made a QR code payment, 3) made an off-platform online payment using our checkout or link of payment solutions while logged in to our Mercado Pago fintech platform, 4) made an investment or employed any of our savings solutions, 5) has an active insurance policy, 6) has an outstanding loan up to date or non performing below 90 days, or 7) received the payment from a sale or transaction either on or off marketplace.

2026-08-06 filed Form 10-Q, fintech monthly active user definition including active policies and qualifying outstanding loans · Filed 06/08/2026

■ Unique active buyers – Defined as users that have performed at least one purchase on the Mercado Libre Marketplace during the reported period.

2026-08-05 filed Q2 2026 shareholder letter, unique active buyer definition · Filed 05/08/2026

From the second quarter of 2025 onwards, we have included food delivery transactions in the current indicator.

2026-08-05 filed Q2 2026 shareholder letter, food delivery inclusion in buyer indicator from second quarter 2025 · Filed 05/08/2026

Publication history

Publication history
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118/10/2026Unavailable

Sources

Research methodology and limitations · What is an economic moat?