A Look Back at Online Marketplace Stocks' Q3 Earnings: MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) Vs The Rest Of The Pack

As the Q3 earnings season wraps, let’s dig into this quarter’s best and worst performers in the online marketplace industry, including MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) and its peers.

Marketplaces have existed for centuries. Where once it was a main street in a small town or a mall in the suburbs, sellers benefitted from proximity to one another because they could draw customers by offering convenience and selection. Today, a myriad of online marketplaces fulfill that same role, aggregating large customer bases, which attracts commission-paying sellers, generating flywheel scale effects that feed back into further customer acquisition.

The 13 online marketplace stocks we track reported a strong Q3. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 2.4% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was in line.

Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 7.4% since the latest earnings results.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI)

Originally started as an online auction platform, MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) is a one-stop e-commerce marketplace and fintech platform in Latin America.

MercadoLibre reported revenues of $7.41 billion, up 39.5% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 2.9%. Despite the top-line beat, it was still a mixed quarter for the company with impressive growth in its users but a miss of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

MercadoLibre achieved the fastest revenue growth of the whole group. The company reported 76.8 million daily active users, up 26.3% year on year. Still, the market seems discontent with the results. The stock is down 9.5% since reporting and currently trades at $2,056.

Is now the time to buy MercadoLibre? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Best Q3: EverQuote (NASDAQ:EVER)

Aiming to simplify a once complicated process, EverQuote (NASDAQ:EVER) is an online insurance marketplace where consumers can compare and purchase various types of insurance from different providers

EverQuote reported revenues of $173.9 million, up 20.3% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 4.3%. The business had an exceptional quarter with an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and revenue guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations.

The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 9.5% since reporting. It currently trades at $24.54.

Is now the time to buy EverQuote? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Weakest Q3: ACV Auctions (NYSE:ACVA)

Founded in 2014, ACV Auctions (NASDAQ:ACVA) is an online auction marketplace for car dealers and wholesalers to buy and sell used cars.

ACV Auctions reported revenues of $199.6 million, up 16.5% year on year, in line with analysts’ expectations. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted full-year revenue guidance slightly missing analysts’ expectations and full-year EBITDA guidance missing analysts’ expectations significantly.

ACV Auctions delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates in the group. The company reported 218,065 units sold, up 9.9% year on year. As expected, the stock is down 19.6% since the results and currently trades at $6.55.

Read our full analysis of ACV Auctions’s results here.

Teladoc (NYSE:TDOC)

Founded to help people in rural areas get online medical consultations, Teladoc Health (NYSE:TDOC) is a telemedicine platform that facilitates remote doctor’s visits.

Teladoc reported revenues of $626.4 million, down 2.2% year on year. This print met analysts’ expectations. Overall, it was a strong quarter as it also logged an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and full-year EBITDA guidance beating analysts’ expectations.

The stock is down 14.3% since reporting and currently trades at $7.03.

Read our full, actionable report on Teladoc here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Sea (NYSE:SE)

Founded in 2009 and a publicly traded company since 2017, Sea (NYSE:SE) started as a gaming platform and has since expanded to offer a variety of services such as e-commerce, digital payments, and financial services across Southeast Asia.

Sea reported revenues of $5.99 billion, up 36.5% year on year. This number topped analysts’ expectations by 6.1%. It was a very strong quarter as it also put up impressive growth in its users and an impressive beat of analysts’ number of paying users estimates.

Sea achieved the biggest analyst estimates beat among its peers. The company reported 65.9 million users, up 31.3% year on year. The stock is down 5.3% since reporting and currently trades at $146.79.

Read our full, actionable report on Sea here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Market Update

As a result of the Fed’s rate hikes in 2022 and 2023, inflation has come down from frothy levels post-pandemic. The general rise in the price of goods and services is trending towards the Fed’s 2% goal as of late, which is good news. The higher rates that fought inflation also didn't slow economic activity enough to catalyze a recession. So far, soft landing. This, combined with recent rate cuts (half a percent in September 2024 and a quarter percent in November 2024) have led to strong stock market performance in 2024. The icing on the cake for 2024 returns was Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. Presidential Election in early November, sending major indices to all-time highs in the week following the election. Still, debates around the health of the economy and the impact of potential tariffs and corporate tax cuts remain, leaving much uncertainty around 2025.

Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Strong Momentum Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate.