MercadoLibre Shares Rise As Q2 Results Beat View

(RTTNews) - Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (MELI) gained more than 10 percent in extended trades Thursday after the Argentinean e-commerce technology company reported second-quarter results that beat analysts' expectations.

MercadoLibre reported an 18 percent increase in profit for the second quarter from last year on strong revenue growth that reflected higher merchandise volumes and payment transactions. The company also recorded an over 23 percent jump in user base during the quarter.

MercadoLibre hosts online commerce platforms in Latin America. Through its primary platforms, MercadoLibre.com and MercadoPago.com, provides solutions to individuals and companies buying, selling, advertising, and paying for goods and services online.

Gross merchandise volume for the second quarter surged 33 percent from the year-ago period to $1.73 billion, while total payments volume grew 40 percent to $577.9 million. In local currencies, year-over-year growth was 45 percent and 54 percent, respectively.

Items sold on MercadoLibre during the quarter increased 27 percent to 20.1 million, while total payments transactions through MercadoPago grew 35 percent to $7.4 million.

The Buenos Aires-based company's second-quarter net income attributable to shareholders increased to $29.98 million or $0.67 per share from $25.38 million or $0.57 per share in the same period last year.

On average, seven analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.62 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Net revenues for the quarter rose 26 percent to $112.18 million from $88.84 million in the year-ago period. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $107.62 million.

The company's total confirmed registered users at the end of the quarter were 90.2 million, up 23 percent year-over-year. New confirmed registered users during the period increased 22 percent to 4.5 million.

MELI closed Thursday's regular trading session at $121.47, up $4.04 or 3.44 percent on a volume of 1.11 million shares. In after-hours, the stock further gained $12.53 or 10.32 percent to $134.00.