MELI vs BABA Stock Comparison

Mercadolibre and Alibaba Group Holding Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
MELI Mercadolibre Inc
$1,810.15 +0.6% 1M -15.7% 1Y
Market cap
$84.59B
P/E
45.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$35.18B
Div. yield
–
Digital Marketplaces Technology
5 wins
BABA Alibaba Group Holding Ltd
$99.63 -10.1% 1M -42.0% 1Y
Market cap
$232.58B
P/E
22.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$150.46B
Div. yield
–
Digital Marketplaces Technology
5 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Alibaba Group Holding leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Alibaba Group Holding 5, Mercadolibre 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMELIBABALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $84.59B $232.58B BABA
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 45.4x 22.1x BABA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 44.6x 14.3x BABA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +46.0% +8.1% MELI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.3% 7.0% BABA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 11.7% 2.4% MELI
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.1x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -15.7% -42.0% MELI
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.8%/yr -10.9%/yr MELI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.6% 40.4% BABA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 62/100 46/100 MELI

Percentile Scorecard

MELIBABA

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisMELIBABA
Valuation 52 #81 of 167 71 #49 of 167
Growth 80 #32 of 153 17 #127 of 153
Profitability 85 #24 of 153 54 #71 of 153
Financial Health 33 #120 of 179 59 #74 of 179
Shareholder Returns – 30 #66 of 94
Overall 62 46
  • MELI ranked among 185 companies in Internet Platforms
  • BABA ranked among 185 companies in Internet Platforms

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodMELIBABASPY
1 month +0.6%-10.1% -1.0%
3 months +0.5%-11.2% +2.9%
6 months -1.4%-26.6% +6.4%
Year to date -10.1%-32.0% +11.4%
1 year -15.7%-42.0% +13.1%
3 years +48.1%+20.2% +79.4%
3 years, per year +14.0%+6.3% +21.5%
5 years +20.4%-43.9% +67.7%
5 years, per year +3.8%-10.9% +10.9%
10 years +940.7%-4.1% +255.2%
10 years, per year +26.4%-0.4% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureMELIBABASPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.6%40.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 43.6%36.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.101.13 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.39-1.04 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -64.2%-64.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -23.3%-44.6% -2.5%
52-week high $2,360.76$179.97 $779.14
52-week low $1,546.81$94.81 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleMELIBABA
P/E now vs peer median 49.3xmedian 17.5x 22.0xmedian 17.5x
P/S now vs peer median 2.6xmedian 1.4x 1.5xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 22.4xmedian 14.9x —median 14.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 7.4xmedian 11.2x 7.0xmedian 11.2x
P/B now vs peer median 11.7xmedian 1.7x 1.4xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 1.40median 0.42 -15.25median 0.42

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsMELIBABA
Revenue $35.18B $150.46B
Gross profit $15.01B $57.45B
Operating income $2.91B $4.39B
Net income $1.86B $10.08B
Free cash flow $12.41B $33.19B
R&D $2.58B $10.68B
EPS (diluted) $36.75 $4.38
Cash & equivalents $3.65B $21.06B
Total debt $37.59B $83.76B
Shares (diluted) 50.70M 2.40B
Enterprise value $60.61B $46.21B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricMELIBABA
P/E 49.3x 22.0x
P/FCF 7.4x 7.0x
P/Operating cash flow 6.6x 20.4x
P/S 2.6x 1.5x
P/B 11.7x 1.4x
P/Tangible book 11.8x 1.4x
EV/EBITDA 22.4x –
EV/EBIT 33.3x 47.7x
EV/Revenue 2.7x 1.4x
EV/FCF 7.8x 6.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.0x 18.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.40 -15.25

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMELIBABA
Revenue growth (1Y) 46.0% 8.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 41.3% 5.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 35.8% 0.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 33.9% 6.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) -2.0% -77.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 18.1% -35.9%
Net income growth (1Y) -9.3% -50.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 35.0% -3.6%
EPS growth (1Y) -9.3% -47.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 35.3% -1.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 64.1% -45.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 45.3% -27.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 68.0% -8.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 44.5% -0.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMELIBABA
Gross margin 42.7% 38.2%
EBITDA margin 12.3% –
Operating margin 8.3% 2.9%
Pretax margin 7.4% 9.7%
Net margin 5.3% 7.0%
FCF margin 35.3% 22.1%
Operating cash flow margin 39.5% 7.5%
Return on equity 24.7% 6.2%
Return on assets 3.8% 3.6%
Return on invested capital 11.7% 2.4%
Return on capital employed 22.8% 2.1%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 7.5x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 1.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMELIBABA
Debt / assets 20.7% 7.5%
Debt / equity 1.4x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.1x –
Debt / FCF 0.9x 0.6x
Liabilities / assets 84.7% 43.6%
Equity / assets 15.3% 56.4%
Interest coverage 13.7x 3.2x
Current ratio 1.1x 1.4x
Quick ratio 0.2x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.6x
Altman Z-score 2.42 2.29

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMELIBABA
Dividend yield – 1.1%
Net buyback yield – –
Shareholder yield 0.0% 1.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusMELIBABA
Forward P/E 44.6xFY2026 14.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $40.57FY2026 $6.97FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +3.0%FY2026 +79.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +41.9% +23.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $39.33BFY2026 $173.52BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +36.1%FY2026 +17.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +45.1% +14.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMELIBABA
Held by institutions 77.8% 10.1%
Institutions holding 1,438 1,218
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.5% -5.4%
Institutions buying 714 555
Institutions selling 525 421
Buyers to sellers 1.36 1.32

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

MELIBABA
MELI 1.00 0.18
BABA 0.18 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MELI and BABA?

Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) is the largest by market capitalisation: Mercadolibre (MELI) $84.59B, Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) $232.58B.

Which stock is cheaper, MELI and BABA?

Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Mercadolibre (MELI) 45.4x, Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) 22.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) is cheapest (Mercadolibre (MELI) 44.6x, Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) 14.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Mercadolibre (MELI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Mercadolibre (MELI) +46.0%, Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) +8.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) has the highest net margin (Mercadolibre (MELI) 5.3%, Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) 7.0%). On return on invested capital, Mercadolibre (MELI) leads (Mercadolibre (MELI) 11.7%, Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) 2.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Mercadolibre (MELI) returned the most: Mercadolibre (MELI) -15.7%, Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) -42.0%. Over five years, Mercadolibre (MELI) compounded fastest (Mercadolibre (MELI) +3.8%/yr, Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) -10.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) has been the steadiest (Mercadolibre (MELI) 40.6%, Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) 40.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do MELI and BABA move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.18, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, MELI and BABA?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Alibaba Group Holding (BABA) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.