Baron Funds, an investment management firm, released its “Baron Global Advantage Fund” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund was up 5.6% (institutional shares) in the third quarter compared to a 6.6% gain for the MSCI ACWI Index (the Index) and a 4.1% gain for the MSCI ACWI Growth Index, the Fund’s benchmark. In the third quarter, global equity indices rose, with several reaching new all-time highs. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to find out its best picks for 2024.
Baron Global Advantage Fund highlighted stocks like MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI), in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) is an online commerce platform that operates Mercado Libre Marketplace and Mercado Pago FinTech platforms. The one-month return of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) was -15.16%, and its shares gained 29.08% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On November 7, 2024, MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) stock closed at $1,774.05 per share with a market capitalization of $89.94 billion.
Baron Global Advantage Fund stated the following regarding MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI), Latin America’s leading e-commerce company, rose 24.8% in the quarter, driven by results that beat expectations. The company reported 83% year-over-year growth in gross merchandise value (GMV), 131% growth in commerce revenues, and 86% growth in total payments volume. Despite its dominant position, the company generated above-market GMV growth across its major Latin American markets and is increasingly outperforming its peers in e-commerce, particularly in Brazil thanks to its broad selection and differentiated logistics capabilities, which enable faster delivery times than peers. MercadoLibre has also benefited from product innovation in fintech and solid underwriting in the growing credit business, which we believe will drive margin expansion and earnings growth as e-commerce in the region continues maturing over the next decade.”
A customer using their phone to access an online commerce platform.
MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 84 hedge fund portfolios held MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) at the end of the second quarter which was 79 in the previous quarter. The consolidated revenue of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) in the second quarter reflects the robust performance of the it’s Commerce and Fintech operations, with revenues reaching $5.1 billion and growing over 40% year-on-year. While we acknowledge the potential of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we discussed MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) and shared the list of best consumer cyclical stocks to buy according to hedge funds. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.