MELI vs PAYD vs PYPL Stock Comparison

Mercadolibre, Paid and PayPal Holdings Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
MELI Mercadolibre Inc
$1,668.72 -4.8% 1M -22.8% 1Y
Market cap
$85.10B
P/E
45.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$35.18B
Div. yield
–
Digital Marketplaces Technology
4 wins
PAYD Paid Inc
$2.20 -8.7% 1M -26.7% 1Y
Market cap
$18.65M
P/E
147.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$22.10M
Div. yield
–
E-commerce Software Technology
PYPL PayPal Holdings, Inc.
$54.99 -0.1% 1M -21.2% 1Y
Market cap
$49.17B
P/E
10.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$34.13B
Div. yield
–
Payment Processing Technology
7 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

PayPal Holdings leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (PayPal Holdings 7, Mercadolibre 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMELIPAYDPYPLLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $85.10B $18.65M $49.17B MELI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 45.7x 147.0x 10.0x PYPL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 41.2x — 9.9x PYPL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +46.0% +12.6% +5.7% MELI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.3% 0.6% 14.4% PYPL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 11.7% — 15.9% PYPL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.1x — 0.3x PYPL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% — 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -22.8% -26.7% -21.2% PYPL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +2.2%/yr -2.8%/yr -25.2%/yr MELI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 41.1% 58.4% 44.0% MELI
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 62/100 44/100 70/100 PYPL

Percentile Scorecard

MELIPAYDPYPL

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

AxisMELIPAYDPYPL
Valuation 52 #80 of 167 40 #101 of 167 92 #9 of 99
Growth 79 #33 of 153 57 #66 of 153 63 #35 of 94
Profitability 86 #23 of 153 50 #77 of 153 88 #12 of 90
Financial Health 33 #120 of 179 43 #102 of 179 39 #65 of 105
Shareholder Returns – 29 #67 of 94 67 #21 of 61
Overall 62 44 70
  • MELI ranked among 185 companies in Internet Platforms
  • PAYD ranked among 185 companies in Internet Platforms
  • PYPL ranked among 109 companies in Fintech

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMELIPAYDPYPLSPY
1 month -4.8%-8.7%-0.1% -0.8%
3 months -8.3%-10.6%-1.9% +3.5%
6 months -9.3%-6.0%+10.5% +7.0%
Year to date -17.2%-26.4%-5.8% +12.2%
1 year -22.8%-26.7%-21.2% +13.0%
3 years +39.0%+29.4%+9.1% +86.3%
3 years, per year +11.6%+9.0%+3.0% +23.1%
5 years +11.2%-13.0%-76.6% +68.6%
5 years, per year +2.2%-2.8%-25.2% +11.0%
10 years +877.9%—+29.9% +258.0%
10 years, per year +25.6%—+2.7% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureMELIPAYDPYPLSPY
Volatility, 1Y 41.1%58.4%44.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 44.9%120.1%48.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.030.041.01 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.55-0.46-0.48 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -64.2%-59.4%-83.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -29.3%-33.3%-24.7% -1.8%
52-week high $2,360.76$3.30$73.02 $779.14
52-week low $1,546.81$1.95$39.08 $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.

MultipleMELIPAYDPYPL
P/E now vs peer median 45.4xmedian 17.5x 147.0xmedian 17.5x 9.8xmedian 20.6x
P/S now vs peer median 2.4xmedian 1.4x 0.8xmedian 1.4x 1.4xmedian 2.3x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 20.7xmedian 14.5x 271.8xmedian 14.5x 7.2xmedian 15.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 6.8xmedian 12.1x 66.0xmedian 12.1x 7.2xmedian 16.4x
P/B now vs peer median 10.8xmedian 1.7x 3.3xmedian 1.7x 2.4xmedian 1.9x
PEG now vs peer median 1.29median 0.41 -4.51median 0.41 0.66median 1.05

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 monthsMELIPAYDPYPL
Revenue $35.18B $22.10M $34.13B
Gross profit $15.01B $4.71M –
Operating income $2.91B -$229.23K $5.95B
Net income $1.86B $128.94K $4.90B
Free cash flow $12.41B $282.66K $6.59B
R&D $2.58B – $3.25B
EPS (diluted) $36.75 $0.02 $5.56
Cash & equivalents $3.65B $1.08M $8.31B
Total debt $10.63B – $13.40B
Shares (diluted) 50.70M 8.55M 882.00M
Enterprise value $61.12B $14.36M $7.39B

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
MetricMELIPAYDPYPL
P/E 45.4x 147.0x 9.8x
P/FCF 6.8x 66.0x 7.2x
P/Operating cash flow 6.1x 65.3x 6.3x
P/S 2.4x 0.8x 1.4x
P/B 10.8x 3.3x 2.4x
P/Tangible book 10.8x 4.8x 2.4x
EV/EBITDA 20.7x 271.8x 7.2x
EV/EBIT 30.8x -76.7x 8.3x
EV/Revenue 2.5x 0.8x 1.5x
EV/FCF 7.2x 62.2x 7.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 6.4x 61.5x 6.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.29 -4.51 0.66

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMELIPAYDPYPL
Revenue growth (1Y) 46.0% 12.6% 5.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 41.3% 10.5% 6.1%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 35.8% 13.0% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 33.9% 8.7% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -2.0% 75.8% 1.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 18.1% 24.3% 9.8%
Net income growth (1Y) -9.3% 115.1% 4.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 35.0% -31.1% 6.4%
EPS growth (1Y) -9.3% 114.7% 16.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 35.3% -32.6% 15.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 64.1% 140.0% 23.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 45.3% -14.2% 20.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 68.0% 142.3% 24.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 44.5% -14.5% 21.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMELIPAYDPYPL
Gross margin 42.7% 21.3% –
EBITDA margin 12.3% 0.3% 20.2%
Operating margin 8.3% -1.0% 17.4%
Pretax margin 7.4% -0.5% 17.2%
Net margin 5.3% 0.6% 14.4%
FCF margin 35.3% 1.3% 19.3%
Operating cash flow margin 39.5% 1.3% 21.9%
Return on equity 24.7% 2.3% 24.6%
Return on assets 3.8% 1.5% 6.0%
Return on invested capital 11.7% – 15.9%
Return on capital employed 22.8% -3.6% 17.9%
Asset turnover 0.7x 2.6x 0.4x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 7.5x 2.2x 1.5x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 2.2% 2.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMELIPAYDPYPL
Debt / assets 20.7% – 16.2%
Debt / equity 1.4x – 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.1x – 0.3x
Debt / FCF 0.9x – 2.0x
Liabilities / assets 84.7% 32.5% 76.0%
Equity / assets 15.3% 67.5% 24.0%
Interest coverage 13.7x – –
Current ratio 1.1x 0.9x 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.2x 0.7x 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.5x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 2.32 -4.92 1.89

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMELIPAYDPYPL
Dividend yield – – 1.0%
Net buyback yield – 0.0% 12.7%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 0.0% 13.7%
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.

ConsensusMELIPAYDPYPL
Forward P/E 41.2xFY2026 – 9.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $40.52FY2026 – $5.55FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +2.8%FY2026 – +4.5%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +42.0% – -3.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $39.34BFY2026 – $33.55BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +36.2%FY2026 – +1.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +45.2% – +5.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMELIPAYDPYPL
Held by institutions 77.8% – 74.2%
Institutions holding 1,438 – 1,378
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.5% – +0.8%
Institutions buying 714 – 521
Institutions selling 525 – 671
Buyers to sellers 1.36 – 0.78

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.

MELIPAYDPYPL
MELI 1.00 0.12 0.25
PAYD 0.12 1.00 0.02
PYPL 0.25 0.02 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MELI, PAYD and PYPL?

Mercadolibre (MELI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Mercadolibre (MELI) $85.10B, Paid (PAYD) $18.65M, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) $49.17B.

Which stock is cheaper, MELI, PAYD and PYPL?

PayPal Holdings (PYPL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Mercadolibre (MELI) 45.7x, Paid (PAYD) 147.0x, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 10.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) is cheapest (Mercadolibre (MELI) 41.2x, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 9.9x). 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%, Paid (PAYD) +12.6%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) +5.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

PayPal Holdings (PYPL) has the highest net margin (Mercadolibre (MELI) 5.3%, Paid (PAYD) 0.6%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 14.4%). On return on invested capital, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) leads (Mercadolibre (MELI) 11.7%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 15.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year PayPal Holdings (PYPL) returned the most: Mercadolibre (MELI) -22.8%, Paid (PAYD) -26.7%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) -21.2%. Over five years, Mercadolibre (MELI) compounded fastest (Mercadolibre (MELI) +2.2%/yr, Paid (PAYD) -2.8%/yr, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) -25.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Mercadolibre (MELI) has been the steadiest (Mercadolibre (MELI) 41.1%, Paid (PAYD) 58.4%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 44.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MELI, PAYD and PYPL?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) leads on 7. 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.