MELI vs PYPL vs PDD Stock Comparison

Mercadolibre, PayPal Holdings and PDD Holdings 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
3 wins
PYPL PayPal Holdings, Inc.
$57.02 +8.6% 1M -18.1% 1Y
Market cap
$48.14B
P/E
9.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$34.13B
Div. yield
–
Payment Processing Technology
2 wins
PDD PDD Holdings Inc.
$79.04 -0.2% 1M -40.7% 1Y
Market cap
$109.18B
P/E
8.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$64.89B
Div. yield
–
Digital Marketplaces Technology
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

PDD Holdings leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (PDD Holdings 6, Mercadolibre 3, PayPal Holdings 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMELIPYPLPDDLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $84.59B $48.14B $109.18B PDD
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 45.4x 9.8x 8.1x PDD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 44.6x 10.3x 7.3x PDD
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +46.0% +5.7% +13.8% MELI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.3% 14.4% 20.7% PDD
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% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -15.7% -18.1% -40.7% MELI
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.8%/yr -25.0%/yr -4.4%/yr MELI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.6% 43.7% 33.6% PDD
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 62/100 69/100 78/100 PDD

Percentile Scorecard

MELIPYPLPDD

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

AxisMELIPYPLPDD
Valuation 52 #81 of 167 91 #10 of 98 88 #21 of 167
Growth 80 #32 of 153 63 #35 of 94 60 #62 of 153
Profitability 85 #24 of 153 88 #12 of 90 84 #25 of 153
Financial Health 33 #120 of 179 39 #65 of 105 80 #36 of 179
Shareholder Returns – 67 #21 of 62 –
Overall 62 69 78
  • MELI ranked among 185 companies in Internet Platforms
  • PYPL ranked among 109 companies in Fintech
  • PDD ranked among 185 companies in Internet Platforms

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMELIPYPLPDDSPY
1 month +0.6%+8.6%-0.2% -1.0%
3 months +0.5%+1.5%-4.4% +2.9%
6 months -1.4%+13.0%-19.4% +6.4%
Year to date -10.1%-2.3%-30.3% +11.4%
1 year -15.7%-18.1%-40.7% +13.1%
3 years +48.1%+5.1%-27.0% +79.4%
3 years, per year +14.0%+1.7%-10.0% +21.5%
5 years +20.4%-76.3%-20.2% +67.7%
5 years, per year +3.8%-25.0%-4.4% +10.9%
10 years +940.7%+29.2%— +255.2%
10 years, per year +26.4%+2.6%— +13.5%

Risk

MeasureMELIPYPLPDDSPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.6%43.7%33.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 43.6%48.4%35.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.101.030.88 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.39-0.41-1.21 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -64.2%-84.2%-74.6% -25.4%
From 52-week high -23.3%-21.9%-42.8% -2.5%
52-week high $2,360.76$73.02$138.13 $779.14
52-week low $1,546.81$39.08$73.30 $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.

MultipleMELIPYPLPDD
P/E now vs peer median 49.3xmedian 17.5x 10.2xmedian 21.5x 8.2xmedian 17.5x
P/S now vs peer median 2.6xmedian 1.4x 1.4xmedian 2.2x 1.7xmedian 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 22.4xmedian 14.9x 7.4xmedian 15.7x —median 14.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median 7.4xmedian 11.2x 7.5xmedian 16.4x 7.0xmedian 11.2x
P/B now vs peer median 11.7xmedian 1.7x 2.5xmedian 1.9x 1.7xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 1.40median 0.42 0.68median 1.06 0.27median 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 monthsMELIPYPLPDD
Revenue $35.18B $34.13B $64.89B
Gross profit $15.01B – $36.55B
Operating income $2.91B $5.95B $14.41B
Net income $1.86B $4.90B $13.45B
Free cash flow $12.41B $6.59B $16.02B
R&D $2.58B $3.25B $2.64B
EPS (diluted) $36.75 $5.56 $9.08
Cash & equivalents $3.65B $8.31B $19.00B
Total debt $37.59B $13.40B –
Shares (diluted) 50.70M 882.00M 1.48B
Enterprise value $60.61B $6.36B -$134.87B

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
MetricMELIPYPLPDD
P/E 49.3x 10.2x 8.2x
P/FCF 7.4x 7.5x 7.0x
P/Operating cash flow 6.6x 6.6x 7.0x
P/S 2.6x 1.4x 1.7x
P/B 11.7x 2.5x 1.7x
P/Tangible book 11.8x 2.5x 1.7x
EV/EBITDA 22.4x 7.4x –
EV/EBIT 33.3x 8.6x 3.1x
EV/Revenue 2.7x 1.5x 0.7x
EV/FCF 7.8x 7.8x 2.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.0x 6.9x 2.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.40 0.68 0.27

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMELIPYPLPDD
Revenue growth (1Y) 46.0% 5.7% 13.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 41.3% 6.1% 40.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 35.8% – 11.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 33.9% – 29.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) -2.0% 1.4% 12.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 18.1% 9.8% 37.4%
Net income growth (1Y) -9.3% 4.8% -1.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 35.0% 6.4% 32.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -9.3% 16.1% -1.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 35.3% 15.0% 30.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 64.1% 23.2% 22.0%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 45.3% 20.1% 21.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 68.0% 24.5% 22.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 44.5% 21.7% 21.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMELIPYPLPDD
Gross margin 42.7% – 56.3%
EBITDA margin 12.3% 20.2% –
Operating margin 8.3% 17.4% 22.2%
Pretax margin 7.4% 17.2% 28.4%
Net margin 5.3% 14.4% 20.7%
FCF margin 35.3% 19.3% 24.7%
Operating cash flow margin 39.5% 21.9% 24.7%
Return on equity 24.7% 24.6% 21.1%
Return on assets 3.8% 6.0% 14.1%
Return on invested capital 11.7% 15.9% –
Return on capital employed 22.8% 17.9% 22.6%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.4x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 7.5x 1.5x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.8% 2.9% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMELIPYPLPDD
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% 76.0% 32.5%
Equity / assets 15.3% 24.0% 67.5%
Interest coverage 13.7x – –
Current ratio 1.1x 1.3x 2.6x
Quick ratio 0.2x 0.4x 2.1x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.2x 2.1x
Altman Z-score 2.42 1.90 4.58

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMELIPYPLPDD
Dividend yield – 1.0% –
Net buyback yield – 12.2% –
Shareholder yield 0.0% 13.2% 0.0%
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.

ConsensusMELIPYPLPDD
Forward P/E 44.6xFY2026 10.3xFY2026 7.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $40.57FY2026 $5.55FY2026 $10.77FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +3.0%FY2026 +4.5%FY2026 +4.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +41.9% -3.1% +19.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $39.33BFY2026 $33.55BFY2026 $72.03BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +36.1%FY2026 +1.1%FY2026 +16.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +45.1% +5.1% +9.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMELIPYPLPDD
Held by institutions 77.8% 74.2% 30.3%
Institutions holding 1,438 1,378 507
Change in shares held, QoQ +3.5% +0.8% +4.8%
Institutions buying 714 521 213
Institutions selling 525 671 234
Buyers to sellers 1.36 0.78 0.91

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.

MELIPYPLPDD
MELI 1.00 0.24 0.25
PYPL 0.24 1.00 0.20
PDD 0.25 0.20 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MELI, PYPL and PDD?

PDD Holdings (PDD) is the largest by market capitalisation: Mercadolibre (MELI) $84.59B, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) $48.14B, PDD Holdings (PDD) $109.18B.

Which stock is cheaper, MELI, PYPL and PDD?

PDD Holdings (PDD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Mercadolibre (MELI) 45.4x, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 9.8x, PDD Holdings (PDD) 8.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, PDD Holdings (PDD) is cheapest (Mercadolibre (MELI) 44.6x, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 10.3x, PDD Holdings (PDD) 7.3x). 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%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) +5.7%, PDD Holdings (PDD) +13.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

PDD Holdings (PDD) has the highest net margin (Mercadolibre (MELI) 5.3%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 14.4%, PDD Holdings (PDD) 20.7%). 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 Mercadolibre (MELI) returned the most: Mercadolibre (MELI) -15.7%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) -18.1%, PDD Holdings (PDD) -40.7%. Over five years, Mercadolibre (MELI) compounded fastest (Mercadolibre (MELI) +3.8%/yr, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) -25.0%/yr, PDD Holdings (PDD) -4.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, PDD Holdings (PDD) has been the steadiest (Mercadolibre (MELI) 40.6%, PayPal Holdings (PYPL) 43.7%, PDD Holdings (PDD) 33.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, PDD Holdings (PDD) leads on 6. 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.