MELI vs SE: MercadoLibre vs Sea Limited — Which EM Tech Stock Wins?: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
MercadoLibre and Sea Limited are both emerging market digital commerce and fintech platforms, with MercadoLibre dominant in Latin America and Sea Limited dominant in Southeast Asia. Both address large underbanked and underserved consumer markets. MercadoLibre is more profitable and has a more mature business; Sea Limited is earlier in its profitability journey with more variable gaming revenue.
Use this MELI vs SE comparison to choose your emerging markets e-commerce and fintech exposure. MercadoLibre offers a more proven and profitable Latin American platform with deep fintech penetration; Sea Limited offers high-growth Southeast Asian exposure with more execution risk across its three divisions.
SE holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. MELI has delivered stronger 1-year price return (-18.18% vs -40.92%), though SE has the better forward P/E setup (21.81x vs 34.60x for MELI). On fundamentals, MELI is growing revenue faster (49.80%), while SE maintains the higher operating margin (8.35%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for SE (+38.54%) than for MELI (+14.76%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want the dominant Latin American e-commerce and fintech platform with proven profitability
- Value MercadoLibre's deep fintech penetration in underbanked markets as a long-term compounder
- Are comfortable with Latin American currency and regulatory risk in exchange for regional dominance
- Prefer a more mature emerging market technology business with established unit economics
- Want exposure to Southeast Asia's fast-growing digital economy via the region's leading e-commerce platform
- Believe SeaMoney's financial services penetration will compound as Southeast Asian middle class grows
- Are willing to accept gaming revenue risk from Garena in exchange for Shopee's platform potential
- Are comfortable with higher volatility and uncertainty in exchange for exposure to multiple high-growth markets
| Metric | MELI | SE |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 62.8 | 55.2 |
| AI ranki | #106 | #229 |
| Latest closei | $1,978.36 | $112.09 |
| 1M returni | +2.90% | -2.45% |
| 6M returni | +10.66% | +17.35% |
| 1Y returni | -18.18% | -40.92% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | MELI | SE |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $8.18K (-18.2%) started 2025-09-05 | $5.91K (-40.9%) started 2025-09-04 |
| 5Y ago | $10.13K (+1.3%) started 2021-09-07 | $3.19K (-68.1%) started 2021-09-07 |
| 10Y ago | $106.2K (+962.0%) started 2016-09-06 | $68.94K (+589.4%) started 2017-10-20 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | MELI | SE |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $99.68B | $68.65B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 53.47 | 43.28 |
| Forward P/Ei | 34.60 | 21.81 |
| Price/Salesi | 5.62 | 2.48 |
| EV/Revenuei | 3.04 | 2.42 |
| Analyst targeti | $2,256.54 | $155.29 |
| Target upsidei | +14.76% | +38.54% |
| Metric | MELI | SE |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 49.80% | 48.10% |
| Earnings growthi | -10.90% | 7.70% |
| EPS growthi | -10.90% | +7.70% |
| FCF margini | +1.00% | +0.24% |
| Operating margini | 6.72% | 8.35% |
| Profit margini | 5.30% | 5.91% |
| ROIC proxyi | 27.50% | 14.73% |
| Return on equityi | 27.50% | 14.73% |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | 0.00% |
| Betai | 1.31 | 1.52 |
| Debt/equityi | 168.59 | 31.62 |
| Current ratioi | 1.12 | 1.49 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.40 | 0.62 |
Over the past year, MELI and SE have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.47), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | MELI | SE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -18.16% | -40.92% |
| CAGRi | -18.20% | -40.94% | |
| Volatilityi | 41.27% | 50.51% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.39 | -0.88 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.51 | -1.22 | |
| Max drawdowni | 38.40% | 60.22% | |
| Current drawdowni | 21.21% | 42.96% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 22.53% | 38.95% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 24.46% | 42.40% | |
| Max daily dropi | 12.70% | 16.53% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 15.16% | 18.01% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +1.26% | -68.07% |
| CAGRi | +0.25% | -20.44% | |
| Volatilityi | 49.52% | 64.54% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.16 | -0.10 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.23 | -0.15 | |
| Max drawdowni | 68.64% | 90.51% | |
| Current drawdowni | 24.31% | 69.46% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 27.73% | 70.83% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 32.70% | 73.21% | |
| Max daily dropi | 16.88% | 28.68% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 33.57% | 38.19% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +961.98% | +589.36% |
| CAGRi | +26.67% | +24.31% | |
| Volatilityi | 48.82% | 62.35% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.64 | 0.59 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.94 | 0.89 | |
| Max drawdowni | 69.12% | 90.51% | |
| Current drawdowni | 24.31% | 69.46% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 20.11% | 44.79% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 25.92% | 55.84% | |
| Max daily dropi | 16.88% | 28.68% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 33.57% | 38.19% |
| Category | MELI | SE |
|---|---|---|
| Company | MercadoLibre, Inc. | Sea Limited |
| Sector | Consumer Cyclical | Consumer Discretionary |
| Industry | Internet Retail | Internet Retail |
| Core business | Latin America's dominant e-commerce marketplace (Mercado Libre), digital payments platform (Mercado Pago), logistics network (Mercado Envíos), and credit and insurance services. Operates across 18 Latin American countries. | Southeast Asian and emerging market digital company spanning e-commerce (Shopee), digital payments (SeaMoney), and online gaming (Garena). Operates primarily in Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and with Shopee Brazil as an international push. |
| Investor focus | Gross merchandise volume growth, Mercado Pago total payment volume and fintech penetration, credit portfolio quality, logistics network efficiency, and Brazil and Mexico market dominance. | Shopee e-commerce profitability, SeaMoney lending and financial services growth, Garena user stabilisation, and free cash flow generation after heavy investment years. |
- Dominant marketplace and fintech platform in Latin America with deep brand recognition and network effects
- Mercado Pago has evolved into a full financial services platform for underbanked populations across the region
- First-party logistics network (Mercado Envíos) creates a competitive advantage in speed and reliability
- Shopee is the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia with strong mobile-first execution
- SeaMoney provides financial services to underbanked populations in fast-growing Southeast Asian economies
- Garena's Free Fire game has a large and loyal user base in Southeast Asia and Latin America
- Latin American currency volatility creates reporting noise and can impact US dollar-denominated returns
- Credit portfolio expansion carries risk in a region with higher default rates than developed markets
- Regulatory risk across multiple emerging market jurisdictions
- Garena gaming revenue has been declining as Free Fire ages and competition increases
- Shopee faces intense competition from TikTok Shop and Lazada across Southeast Asia
- Profitable unit economics for Shopee in key markets have been hard to sustain while investing in growth
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