Buying growth stocks at a discount often yields substantial returns, particularly when their long-term competitive advantages remain intact. MercadoLibre (MELI), the Latin American e-commerce and fintech platform, and Coupang (CPNG), the South Korean e-commerce giant, are currently trading 26% and 68% below their respective all-time highs. However, both companies have seen no erosion of their competitive moats and continue to deliver double-digit revenue growth.
Although MercadoLibre’s stock has fallen approximately 26% from its peak, its business performance remains robust. In the second quarter, revenue grew 43% year-over-year on a constant-currency basis. As the leading e-commerce and fintech platform in Latin America, the company has sustained high-speed growth for many years.
Its core competitive strength lies in the integration of its online marketplace with a rapidly expanding financial services ecosystem, which encompasses payment and credit tools. In the last quarter, the marketplace segment had 89 million unique active buyers, up 26% year-over-year, while the fintech platform reached 88 million monthly active users, a 30% increase. This deeply integrated model is difficult for competitors to replicate, which explains the company’s long-term growth trajectory.
The recent stock pullback reflects market concerns over margin pressure, but management has clearly prioritized long-term gains. Investments in free shipping, logistics infrastructure, and credit card operations are aimed at widening the moat and deepening customer relationships, providing a strong rationale for buying on dips. Additionally, advertising revenue surged over 70% last quarter and is poised to become a catalyst for margin expansion over the next decade. At present, the stock trades at a price-to-sales ratio of approximately 2.8 times, below its three-year average of 4.6 times, making the valuation attractive for a company still in a high-growth phase.
Coupang’s stock has dropped about 68% from its all-time high in 2021 and is also down 52% from its 52-week peak, primarily due to slowing revenue growth over the past year and a data breach incident that affected user shopping behavior. However, in the second quarter, revenue still grew 10% year-over-year on a currency-adjusted basis. Although this represents a decline from the 14% growth rate in 2025, the fundamentals have not deteriorated.
The company is headquartered in Seattle, operates mainly in South Korea, and maintains its dominant position in the local e-commerce market. Building a fast-delivery network in South Korea, where high-rise apartments are densely concentrated, is costly and complex, but Coupang has already completed that build-out, with approximately 99% of orders now eligible for same-day or next-day delivery. Its moat is further reinforced by warehouse automation and the WOW membership program, which integrates benefits such as free shipping, food delivery, and streaming services. Long-term member spending increases significantly over time; members enrolled for more than ten years now spend nearly ten times as much annually as they did in their first year, underscoring platform stickiness and limited alternatives. This also explains the rapid return of users after the data breach—spending by returning users has already surpassed pre-incident levels. In the second quarter, active product e-commerce customers grew 3% year-over-year to 24.7 million. The company is now replicating its South Korean experience in the Taiwanese market, where business growth is approaching the trajectory seen during its early expansion phase in Korea.
The current price-to-sales ratio stands at about 0.8 times, roughly half of what it was before the data breach, indicating a low valuation. As the impact of the incident fades and the WOW member base expands, growth is expected to reaccelerate, offering strong return potential over the next decade for investors buying at the current discount.
