MercadoLibre (MELI) Rose due to Robust Performance And Operating Margins

ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, released its “ClearBridge Mid Cap Growth Strategy” second-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Following the soft start to the year, the midcap fund rebounded in the second quarter, driven by demand for AI and a low-quality rally, which enabled the growth stocks to overcome the tariff-led uncertainty. The strategy failed to outpace the benchmark, despite strong absolute returns, due to limited exposure to several of the rally’s leading participants. However, the firm is optimistic about the ability of the mid-cap growth universe to offer attractive long-term compounders. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.

In its second-quarter 2025 investor letter, ClearBridge Mid Cap Growth Strategy highlighted stocks such as MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI). 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 1.67%, and its shares gained 19.73% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On August 27, 2025, MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) stock closed at $2,413.43 per share, with a market capitalization of $122.355 billion.

ClearBridge Mid Cap Growth Strategy stated the following regarding MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter:

"Our top contributors were broadly dispersed across IT, consumer discretionary and utilities. MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI), which operates online e-commerce platforms targeted to Latin American consumers, rose on strong financial performance and operating margins. Additionally, strong returns driven by its digital advertising division — Mercado Ads — highlights the company’s transition from mere e-commerce and fintech platform into a broader digital ecosystem."

MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 116 hedge fund portfolios held MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) at the end of the second quarter, which was 108 in the previous quarter. In the second quarter of 2025, MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) delivered another strong quarter of financial performance with revenues growing over 30% year-on-year and record income from operations of $825 million. While we acknowledge the potential of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

In another article, we covered MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) and shared the list of best stocks for 5 years. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2025 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.