A Motley Fool writer favors Shopify over MercadoLibre for 2026, citing growth with profitability. Shopify’s FY2025 revenue rose 30.1% to roughly $11.6 billion and net income was about $1.2 billion, while MercadoLibre is trading near-term profit for market share.
Shopify’s latest Q2 report marked a fifth straight quarter of more than 30% growth in gross merchandise volume; B2B volume grew especially fast, and its Q3 guidance exceeded analyst expectations. MercadoLibre’s FY2025 revenue was nearly $28.9 billion, up 39.1%, and gross merchandise volume rose 26% to $65 billion. Cited valuation figures put MercadoLibre at 46.5x forward P/E and 2.5x price-to-sales, versus Shopify at 75.5x and 13.9x; the source notes such figures can vary by provider.
Shopify generated close to $2 billion in FY2025 free cash flow, but stock-based compensation was about 22.1% of operating cash flow. The article also cites Shopify’s reliance on a small number of cloud and payment providers and legal proceedings involving intellectual property and data privacy. MercadoLibre faces competition and macroeconomic risks, including currency depreciation and high inflation in Argentina and Brazil, as well as fintech regulation.
