Best Growth Stock to Buy Right Now: Amazon vs. MercadoLibre

By Brett Schafer – Mar 15, 2026 at 3:15AM ESTKey PointsMercadoLibre is growing quickly in Latin American e-commerce and financial technology, but is seeing compressing margins. Amazon's profit margin inflection has finally arrived. Both stocks should turn things around for investors, but MercadoLibre looks like the better buy for investors today. Despite making massive gains for shareholders over the last 20 years, both Amazon (AMZN 0.87%) and MercadoLibre (MELI 0.59%) have underperformed the S&P 500 index over the last five years. That's right, the two e-commerce giants have delivered only meager gains in recent years, trailing a stock market index that has delivered a total return of 86% over the last five years alone. The two businesses continue to hum along, with dual growth engines alongside their core e-commerce and logistics marketplaces. But which one is the better buy today? Here's what the data says. Image source: Getty Images. MercadoLibre's growth opportunity MercadoLibre operates as a financial technology and e-commerce giant in many Latin American markets, including Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. With payment technology, logistics infrastructure, and a wide selection of products, MercadoLibre's scale in the marketplace allows it to offer significant discounts to customers while still generating a profit. ExpandNASDAQ: MELIMercadoLibreToday's Change(-0.59%) $-10.00Current Price$1670.00Key Data PointsMarket Cap$85BDay's Range$1645.91 - $1695.0052wk Range$1631.18 - $2645.22Volume679KAvg Vol589KGross Margin44.50% This has led to massive revenue growth as the business reinvests to expand its services. In the last 10 years, MercadoLibre's revenue has grown from $1 billion to $29 billion in 2025, driven by the expansion of its fintech and e-commerce platform across a wide range of Latin American geographies. Growth continued in the fourth quarter of 2025, with overall revenue growth of 47% in constant currency, total payment volume (TPV) of 53%, and gross merchandise volume (GMV) of 37% on its e-commerce platform. And yet, investors decided to sell the stock after the report due to compressing profit margins, with an operating margin of 10.1% in the quarter. Even with these depressed margins, MercadoLibre trades at an enterprise value-to-EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) ratio of 27. If this revenue growth can continue alongside a recovery in its profitability, MercadoLibre stock will do well for investors in the years to come. Amazon's margin expansion? Amazon is in a more mature phase of its business, at least in e-commerce. The retail operation has become much more profitable in recent years, pushing the overall operating margin to 11.8% over the last 12 months, an all-time high. North American retail sales are still growing 10% year over year, which is driving strong operating leverage for the company. ExpandNASDAQ: AMZNAmazonToday's Change(-0.87%) $-1.83Current Price$207.70Key Data PointsMarket Cap$2.2TDay's Range$206.23 - $210.5652wk Range$161.38 - $258.60Volume1.6MAvg Vol49MGross Margin50.29% The less mature part of the business is the cloud division called Amazon Web Services (AWS). It is benefiting massively from the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, with revenue growth accelerating to 24% year over year last quarter. While Amazon should do well for investors going forward because of the steady margin expansion in retail and growth of AI, the company is growing much more slowly than MercadoLibre stock today. Plus, Amazon trades at a similar EV/EBIT multiple and has been expanding its profit margins, while MercadoLibre temporarily compresses them to accelerate growth. MercadoLibre is a faster-growing business than Amazon and has more margin expansion potential. At the same earnings multiple, MercadoLibre stock is the better buy today.Read NextMar 12, 2026 •By Prosper Junior BakinyGot $5,000? 2 Stocks to Buy Now While They're On SaleMar 12, 2026 •By Will HealyMercadoLibre Is Down 33% in Recent Months. Is This a Once-in-a-Lifetime Buying Opportunity?Mar 10, 2026 •By John Ballard3 Monster Stocks to Hold for the Next 20 YearsMar 6, 2026 •By Catie Hogan5 Reasons to Buy MercadoLibre Stock Like There's No TomorrowMar 5, 2026 •By Lawrence NgaWhere Could MercadoLibre Be in 3 Years?Mar 5, 2026 •By Matt Frankel, CFPMercadoLibre's Profit Margins Declined in Q4 -- Should Investors Be Worried?About the AuthorBrett Schafer is a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst covering consumer goods, financials, technology, and industrials. Brett is a self-taught investor and has hosted the Chit Chat Stocks podcast since 2018. He previously worked as a lab engineer for science laboratories. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering with minors in finance and mathematics from Washington State University. His lab work on Major League Baseball’s juiced ball problem was featured in The Wall Street Journal and other national outlets.TMFBrettSchaferX@CCM_BrettStocks MentionedMercadoLibreNASDAQ: MELI$1,670.00(-0.59%)-$10.00AmazonNASDAQ: AMZN$207.70(-0.87%)-$1.83S&P 500 IndexSNPINDEX: ^GSPC$6,632.19(-0.61%)-$40.43*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.