Free Market shares in the US jumped 20% and the company is worth more than $ 20 billion

That is 35% of what the International Monetary Fund has agreed to lend to Argentina after the second agreement. And it's double the amount the local government expects next month.

Today Mercado Libre, the region's e-commerce giant, reached a market value, or market limit, of US $ 20.2 billion thanks to its shares on Wall Street had a spectacular jump of 20.89 percent and exceeded $ 446 per unit. It is the first time a local listed company reaches this market valuation. Today Mercado Libre is worth 3.5 times more than YPF, for example.

What happened? Mercado Libre announced today its results for the fourth quarter of 2018. In that period, it had US $ 428 million (above the estimated market consensus of US $ 400 million), representing a year-on-year increase of 19, 5% year-on-year.

"It's the first to cross the $ 20 billion barrier." The Mercado Libre had a great balance and ratified all the good that is expected of online businesses, but above all that is associated with its core. Today the company is a means of payment and also a financial simile, which lends money to SMEs. How Alibaba could end up focusing more on the wholesale business. Nowadays, it's more of a fintech than an e-commerce company, with a very strong commitment in Brazil and Mexico, "he said. Gustavo Neffa for traders.

Diego Martínez BurzacoMB Inversiones' strategy director pointed out that Meli's quarterly sales (such as Wall Street) grew 63% and the quantity of goods sold grew 18% year-over-year. "Obviously, they are very encouraging numbers, but also the valuation is not cheap. In the quotation and the increase of more than 20% today, there is a part of the investor's expectation that should be materialized ", he said.

"These are very good results, with margin improvements and a net loss of $ 0.05 per share, below what the market predicted, and their sales were very good too, Ebitda is $ 11.1 million. , with a margin of 2.6 percent, "says the stock market analyst Ariel Sbdar. "The most relevant is how the Mercado Pago grows, with a volume that grew 22.1% in dollars and 68.5% in local currency. In transactions with this payment system, 125.6 million were channeled, 71.7%. The company grows at a rate of at least 70% per year. For a long time this action did not come this way, "he said.

Sbdar imagines that tomorrow's stock may fall, looking for a new price range. "The key seems to be the Paid Market. In the US, it happened with eBay and PayPal, which grew more than the parent company and ended up making a spin off. It may or may not be the case in this case, but The truth is that they are two deals in one, and one grows much more than another ", he concluded.

In the same vein, a statement from Bloomberg asked whether the Paid Market could be the new PayPal. "There is an identity for the MercadoPago product outside the free market," Susquehanna's analyst said. Jamie Friedman. "We remind investors that PayPal, a simple division of eBay, is worth 3 times more than its previous parent," he added. Marvin Fong of the BTIG. In addition, according to HSBC calculations highlighted by Bloomberg, MercadoPago could already have a value of US $ 8,000 million.

Who would rather not mention the stock price of your company is Marcos Galperin, founder, CEO and president of the platform. "Whenever we talk about capitalization values, we have to know that everything is very volatile, I've seen them all," he said in late 2017 in the book "The New Argentine Kings." "When we talk about values, two things: look at the stock market prices that go up and down, and second, stop looking at the navel and see what is happening in the world. If we look at our navels, we will lose the conclusion that it is too bad that there are not ten Argentine companies that are worth as much or more than we are, "he said.

Will you think the same now that your company is worth $ 20 billion? Most likely, yes.