SE vs MELI Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Both SE and MELI are dominant regional digital economy platforms — SE across Southeast Asia and MELI across Latin America — combining e-commerce marketplaces with fintech services targeting underbanked populations. MELI is generally larger, more profitable, and more established, while SE offers more geographic diversification and a larger addressable population.
SE vs MELI compares the two leading emerging market digital economy platforms, each combining e-commerce and fintech dominance in high-growth regions with large underbanked populations.
SE and MELI are closely matched — they split the tracked metrics evenly. MELI has delivered stronger 1-year price return (-31.95% vs -41.37%), though SE trades at the lower forward P/E (17.22x vs 27.19x). Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for SE (+53.92%) than for MELI (+39.47%).
- →Want exposure to Southeast Asia's digital economy through a leading e-commerce and fintech platform
- →Believe Shopee and SeaMoney can sustain long-term growth as Southeast Asian consumer spending matures
- →Are comfortable with a more complex, multi-segment business navigating competitive dynamics
- →Want exposure to Latin America's dominant e-commerce and fintech platform
- →Value MercadoLibre's more established profitability and scale versus earlier-stage emerging market peers
- →Believe Mercado Pago's fintech flywheel will drive compounding growth across payments, lending, and investing
| Metric | SE | MELI |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 48.8 | 62.8 |
| AI rank | #539 | #88 |
| Latest close | $91.28 | $1,635.15 |
| 1M return | +4.58% | +2.53% |
| 6M return | -23.26% | -14.67% |
| 1Y return | -41.37% | -31.95% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | SE | MELI |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $5.86K (-41.4%) started 2025-06-18 | $6.81K (-31.9%) started 2025-06-18 |
| 5Y ago | $3.23K (-67.7%) started 2021-06-18 | $11.14K (+11.4%) started 2021-06-18 |
| 10Y ago | $56.14K (+461.4%) started 2017-10-20 | $121.04K (+1110.4%) started 2016-06-20 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | SE | MELI |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $55.91B | $80.59B |
| Trailing P/E | 35.94 | 42.02 |
| Forward P/E | 17.22 | 27.19 |
| Price/Sales | 2.22 | 5.62 |
| EV/Revenue | 1.84 | 2.75 |
| Analyst target | $140.50 | $2,216.96 |
| Target upside | +53.92% | +39.47% |
| Metric | SE | MELI |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 46.60% | 49.00% |
| Earnings growth | 3.10% | -15.60% |
| EPS growth | +3.10% | -15.60% |
| FCF margin | +3.51% | -12.91% |
| Operating margin | N/A | 6.91% |
| Profit margin | 6.36% | 6.04% |
| ROIC proxy | 14.86% | 31.26% |
| Return on equity | 14.86% | 31.26% |
| Dividend yield | 0.00% | N/A |
| Beta | 1.57 | 1.35 |
| Debt/equity | 27.61 | 169.98 |
| Current ratio | 1.58 | 1.16 |
| Quick ratio | 0.76 | 0.44 |
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | SE | MELI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | -41.37% | -31.95% |
| CAGR | -41.39% | -31.96% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.88 | -0.89 | |
| Max drawdown | 60.22% | 40.82% | |
| Max daily drop | 16.53% | 12.70% | |
| Max wkly drop | 18.01% | 15.16% | |
| 5Y | Growth | -67.69% | +11.38% |
| CAGR | -20.23% | +2.18% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.10 | 0.20 | |
| Max drawdown | 90.51% | 68.64% | |
| Max daily drop | 28.68% | 16.88% | |
| Max wkly drop | 38.19% | 33.57% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +461.38% | +1110.42% |
| CAGR | +22.05% | +28.34% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.56 | 0.66 | |
| Max drawdown | 90.51% | 69.12% | |
| Max daily drop | 28.68% | 16.88% | |
| Max wkly drop | 38.19% | 33.57% |
| Category | SE | MELI |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Sea Limited | MercadoLibre, Inc. |
| Sector | Consumer Discretionary / Technology - Southeast Asia Digital Economy | Consumer Cyclical |
| Industry | N/A | Internet Retail |
| Core business | Sea Limited operates three digital businesses across Southeast Asia and other emerging markets: Shopee (e-commerce marketplace), SeaMoney (fintech and digital financial services), and Garena (digital entertainment and gaming). | MercadoLibre is the dominant e-commerce and fintech platform across Latin America, operating its Mercado Libre marketplace, Mercado Pago payments, Mercado Credito lending, and logistics infrastructure. |
| Investor focus | Investors track Sea's progress toward profitability in its e-commerce segment, SeaMoney financial services growth, and whether the Garena gaming segment can stabilize or grow after a sharp post-pandemic decline. | Investors track MercadoLibre's gross merchandise volume growth, Mercado Pago total payment volume and fintech monetization, credit portfolio quality, and operating leverage as the business scales. |
- →Shopee is one of the leading e-commerce platforms across Southeast Asia with strong mobile-first positioning
- →SeaMoney fintech business benefits from serving underbanked populations across high-growth emerging markets
- →Singapore-listed company with U.S. ADRs provides accessible exposure to Southeast Asian digital economy growth
- →Dominant position in Latin American e-commerce in its core markets of Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico
- →Mercado Pago fintech is one of the largest digital payment platforms in Latin America
- →Vertically integrated logistics network (Mercado Envios) provides a competitive moat
- →Garena gaming segment experienced a sharp post-pandemic decline in active users and revenue
- →E-commerce competition from TikTok Shop and other platforms has intensified in key Southeast Asian markets
- →Path to sustained profitability has been complex as the company balances growth investment with margin improvement
- →Latin American macro and currency volatility (especially Argentina inflation) creates earnings volatility
- →Credit portfolio quality monitoring is critical as Mercado Credito lending has scaled rapidly
- →Competition from global platforms entering Latin American e-commerce markets
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