WMT vs. MELI: Which Stock Offers the Stronger Growth Story Now?

As Walmart Inc. WMT and MercadoLibre, Inc. MELI continue to strengthen their respective commerce ecosystems, a closer look at the two stocks can help investors assess their individual investment prospects.

Walmart is a global omnichannel retailer with a vast store network and growing digital ecosystem spanning e-commerce, marketplace, advertising, membership and fulfillment services. Its scale, price leadership, delivery capabilities and expanding high-margin businesses continue to strengthen its long-term growth profile. The company has a market capitalization of roughly $839 billion.

MercadoLibre is Latin America’s leading e-commerce and fintech platform, operating an integrated ecosystem across online commerce, payments, credit, advertising and financial services. Expanding user engagement, logistics capabilities, Mercado Pago adoption and AI-driven initiatives continue to support its growth opportunities across the region. MELI has a market capitalization of roughly $101 billion.

The Case for Walmart

Walmart’s fundamental strength rests on the durability of its omnichannel retail model. Its scale, broad assortment and price leadership continue to support traffic and market-share gains across categories and income groups. At the same time, the company’s store network has evolved into a strategic fulfillment asset, enabling faster delivery and allowing Walmart to serve customers across more shopping occasions.

WMT’s digital transformation is also becoming more meaningful. Global e-commerce sales rose 23% in the second quarter of fiscal 2027, with momentum being supported by store-fulfilled delivery, marketplace expansion and improved fulfillment capabilities. Faster delivery is helping deepen customer engagement, increase shopping frequency and strengthen Walmart+ adoption, while the physical network provides an important cost and convenience advantage.

Another positive is the changing profit mix. Advertising, membership, marketplace, fulfillment services and data solutions are becoming larger contributors alongside the core retail business. These businesses generally carry more attractive economics and are helping improve e-commerce profitability as scale, delivery density and automation increase. Walmart is also extending successful platforms across international markets. This should improve operating efficiency and allow the company to leverage technology, marketplace and membership investments more broadly.

Near-term pressures remain, including pharmacy deflation, higher healthcare and claims costs, and continued spending on price and customer experience. Still, the underlying business remains resilient, and management’s raised fiscal-year outlook reinforces confidence in the durability of WMT’s growth model.

The Case for MercadoLibre

MercadoLibre’s strength rests on the reinforcing relationship between its commerce and fintech operations. Users who engage with both the marketplace and Mercado Pago tend to shop more frequently, use more services and generate stronger profitability. Ecosystemic users grew 37% year over year in the second quarter of 2026, underscoring the increasing depth of engagement across the platform.

The commerce business continues to benefit from broader selection, improving convenience and stronger buyer engagement. Initiatives such as lower free-shipping thresholds in Brazil have encouraged customers to purchase across more categories and return more frequently, while logistics capabilities and cross-border trade support assortment and service quality.

Mercado Pago adds another powerful growth engine. Payments, acquiring, savings products and credit are becoming more deeply embedded within the ecosystem. The company has also shifted its credit portfolio toward lower-risk users and strengthened underwriting, supporting healthy asset quality as the business scales. Advertising and artificial intelligence provide additional upside. AI-enhanced search is improving conversion and ad relevance, while MercadoLibre’s proprietary data across commerce, payments, credit and logistics strengthens personalization and operating efficiency.

Margins remain under pressure from commerce initiatives, acquiring costs and logistics expenses. Still, these pressures largely reflect deliberate spending to deepen engagement and expand scale. Taken together, MercadoLibre’s expanding ecosystem, growing fintech capabilities and technology-led execution provide multiple avenues to sustain growth and enhance user engagement across Latin America.

Earnings Estimate Trends for WMT & MELI

For Walmart, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current and next fiscal-year earnings per share (EPS) has declined to $2.87 and $3.23, respectively, over the past 30 days. However, the estimates imply year-over-year growth of 8.7% and 12.4%, respectively.
 

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Over the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MELI’s current and next year EPS has also trended downward to $39.11 and $56.05, respectively. While the consensus mark for the current year EPS suggests a 0.7% decline from the year-ago period level, the consensus estimate for the next year calls for 43.3% growth.
 

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Overall, the estimate trends indicate some near-term caution for both stocks, while their longer-term earnings growth expectations remain supportive.

WMT & MELI: Stock Price Performance Over the Past Year

Walmart’s steady execution and expanding digital businesses have supported its stock performance, while MercadoLibre shares have faced pressure despite continued business growth. Over the past year, Walmart shares have jumped 9.7%, while MercadoLibre has tumbled 17.3%. The divergence also highlights different market expectations around growth, valuation and profitability.

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WMT vs. MELI: A Look at Valuation

Walmart currently trades at a forward P/E of 34.26, below its one-year median of 38.67. MercadoLibre’s forward P/E of 39.82 stands above its one-year median of 34.47. 

The valuation comparison suggests Walmart is trading below its recent historical average, making its current multiple appear more reasonable. MercadoLibre trades at a higher valuation, reflecting strong growth expectations around its commerce and fintech ecosystem. However, the premium valuation also means investors may closely watch execution and future growth trends.

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WMT or MELI: Which Stock Wins the Face-Off Now?

MercadoLibre’s integrated commerce and fintech ecosystem offers significant growth opportunities, supported by rising engagement, expanding financial services and technology-driven initiatives across Latin America. However, its higher valuation places greater importance on continued execution and sustained growth. Walmart, meanwhile, combines a highly resilient retail foundation with expanding digital, advertising, membership and marketplace businesses that are improving its growth profile and overall economics. Given its balance of stability, consistent execution, improving business mix and valuation support, Walmart appears to be the better bet now.

Both WMT and MELI currently carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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