GURUFOCUS.COM » STOCK LIST » Consumer Cyclical » Retail - Cyclical » MercadoLibre Inc (FRA:MLB1) » Definitions » Beneish M-Score

MercadoLibre (FRA:MLB1) Beneish M-Score : -2.63 (As of Jun. 30, 2025)


View and export this data going back to 2007. Start your Free Trial

What is MercadoLibre Beneish M-Score?

The zones of discrimination for M-Score is as such:

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.
An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Good Sign:

Beneish M-Score -2.63 no higher than -1.78, which implies that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

The historical rank and industry rank for MercadoLibre's Beneish M-Score or its related term are showing as below:

FRA:MLB1' s Beneish M-Score Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: -3.45   Med: -2.71   Max: -1.43
Current: -2.63

During the past 13 years, the highest Beneish M-Score of MercadoLibre was -1.43. The lowest was -3.45. And the median was -2.71.


MercadoLibre Beneish M-Score Historical Data

The historical data trend for MercadoLibre's Beneish M-Score can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

* Premium members only.

MercadoLibre Beneish M-Score Chart

MercadoLibre Annual Data
Trend Dec15 Dec16 Dec17 Dec18 Dec19 Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec23 Dec24
Beneish M-Score
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -2.60 -1.88 -2.76 -3.17 -2.82

MercadoLibre Quarterly Data
Jun20 Sep20 Dec20 Mar21 Jun21 Sep21 Dec21 Mar22 Jun22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23 Mar24 Jun24 Sep24 Dec24 Mar25
Beneish M-Score Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -3.06 -2.99 -2.85 -2.82 -2.63

Competitive Comparison of MercadoLibre's Beneish M-Score

For the Internet Retail subindustry, MercadoLibre's Beneish M-Score, along with its competitors' market caps and Beneish M-Score data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


MercadoLibre's Beneish M-Score Distribution in the Retail - Cyclical Industry

For the Retail - Cyclical industry and Consumer Cyclical sector, MercadoLibre's Beneish M-Score distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where MercadoLibre's Beneish M-Score falls into.


;
;

MercadoLibre Beneish M-Score Calculation

The M-score was created by Professor Messod Beneish. Instead of measuring the bankruptcy risk (Altman Z-Score) or business trend (Piotroski F-Score), M-score can be used to detect the risk of earnings manipulation. This is the original research paper on M-score.

The M-Score Variables:

The M-score of MercadoLibre for today is based on a combination of the following eight different indices:

M=-4.84+0.92 * DSRI+0.528 * GMI+0.404 * AQI+0.892 * SGI+0.115 * DEPI
=-4.84+0.92 * 1.1321+0.528 * 1.0675+0.404 * 1.5062+0.892 * 1.3834+0.115 * 1.1224
-0.172 * SGAI+4.679 * TATA-0.327 * LVGI
-0.172 * 0.9323+4.679 * -0.188603-0.327 * 0.9982
=-2.63

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

This Year (Mar25) TTM:Last Year (Mar24) TTM:
Total Receivables was €10,447 Mil.
Revenue was 5489.875 + 5786.345 + 4786.112 + 4712.817 = €20,775 Mil.
Gross Profit was 2563.175 + 2625.295 + 2197.539 + 2197.085 = €9,583 Mil.
Total Current Assets was €20,110 Mil.
Total Assets was €25,606 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was €2,613 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was €589 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was €3,102 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was €16,710 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was €3,582 Mil.
Net Income was 456.95 + 610.245 + 357.697 + 493.299 = €1,918 Mil.
Non Operating Income was -50.875 + -47.75 + -36.04 + -53.882 = €-189 Mil.
Cash Flow from Operations was 953.675 + 2792.42 + 1441.6 + 1748.378 = €6,936 Mil.
Total Receivables was €6,671 Mil.
Revenue was 3986.36 + 4043.053 + 3679.599 + 3308.955 = €15,018 Mil.
Gross Profit was 1862.08 + 1879.85 + 1963.015 + 1690.013 = €7,395 Mil.
Total Current Assets was €14,265 Mil.
Total Assets was €17,537 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was €1,961 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was €510 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was €2,405 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was €11,276 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was €2,647 Mil.




1. DSRI = Days Sales in Receivables Index

Measured as the ratio of Revenue in Total Receivables in year t to year t-1.

A large increase in DSR could be indicative of revenue inflation.

DSRI=(Receivables_t / Revenue_t) / (Receivables_t-1 / Revenue_t-1)
=(10446.95 / 20775.149) / (6670.92 / 15017.967)
=0.502858 / 0.444196
=1.1321

2. GMI = Gross Margin Index

Measured as the ratio of gross margin in year t-1 to gross margin in year t.

Gross margin has deteriorated when this index is above 1. A firm with poorer prospects is more likely to manipulate earnings.

GMI=GrossMargin_t-1 / GrossMargin_t
=(GrossProfit_t-1 / Revenue_t-1) / (GrossProfit_t / Revenue_t)
=(7394.958 / 15017.967) / (9583.094 / 20775.149)
=0.492407 / 0.461277
=1.0675

3. AQI = Asset Quality Index

AQI is the ratio of asset quality in year t to year t-1.

Asset quality is measured as the ratio of non-current assets other than Property, Plant and Equipment to Total Assets.

AQI=(1 - (CurrentAssets_t + PPE_t) / TotalAssets_t) / (1 - (CurrentAssets_t-1 + PPE_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=(1 - (20109.5 + 2613.125) / 25605.85) / (1 - (14264.6 + 1961.44) / 17537.04)
=0.1126 / 0.074756
=1.5062

4. SGI = Sales Growth Index

Ratio of Revenue in year t to sales in year t-1.

Sales growth is not itself a measure of manipulation. However, growth companies are likely to find themselves under pressure to manipulate in order to keep up appearances.

SGI=Sales_t / Sales_t-1
=Revenue_t / Revenue_t-1
=20775.149 / 15017.967
=1.3834

5. DEPI = Depreciation Index

Measured as the ratio of the rate of Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization in year t-1 to the corresponding rate in year t.

DEPI greater than 1 indicates that assets are being depreciated at a slower rate. This suggests that the firm might be revising useful asset life assumptions upwards, or adopting a new method that is income friendly.

DEPI=(Depreciation_t-1 / (Depreciaton_t-1 + PPE_t-1)) / (Depreciation_t / (Depreciaton_t + PPE_t))
=(510.114 / (510.114 + 1961.44)) / (588.783 / (588.783 + 2613.125))
=0.206394 / 0.183885
=1.1224

Note: If the Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization data is not available, we assume that the depreciation rate is constant and set the Depreciation Index to 1.

6. SGAI = Sales, General and Administrative expenses Index

The ratio of Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) to Sales in year t relative to year t-1.

SGA expenses index > 1 means that the company is becoming less efficient in generate sales.

SGAI=(SGA_t / Sales_t) / (SGA_t-1 /Sales_t-1)
=(3101.912 / 20775.149) / (2405.115 / 15017.967)
=0.149309 / 0.160149
=0.9323

7. LVGI = Leverage Index

The ratio of total debt to Total Assets in year t relative to yeat t-1.

An LVGI > 1 indicates an increase in leverage

LVGI=((LTD_t + CurrentLiabilities_t) / TotalAssets_t) / ((LTD_t-1 + CurrentLiabilities_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=((3581.6 + 16710.125) / 25605.85) / ((2646.84 + 11275.52) / 17537.04)
=0.792464 / 0.793883
=0.9982

8. TATA = Total Accruals to Total Assets

Total accruals calculated as the change in working capital accounts other than cash less depreciation.

TATA=(IncomefromContinuingOperations_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(NetIncome_t - NonOperatingIncome_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(1918.191 - -188.547 - 6936.073) / 25605.85
=-0.188603

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator. An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

MercadoLibre has a M-score of -2.63 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.


MercadoLibre Beneish M-Score Related Terms

Thank you for viewing the detailed overview of MercadoLibre's Beneish M-Score provided by GuruFocus.com. Please click on the following links to see related term pages.


MercadoLibre Business Description

Address
WTC Free Zone, Dr. Luis Bonavita 1294, Of. 1733, Tower II, Montevideo, URY, 11300
MercadoLibre runs the largest e-commerce marketplace in Latin America, with more than 218 million active users and 1 million active sellers across 18 countries stitching into its commerce network or fintech solutions when last reported. The company operates a host of complementary businesses to its core online shop, with shipping solutions (Mercado Envios), a payment and financing operation (Mercado Pago and Mercado Credito), advertisements (Mercado Clics), classifieds, and a turnkey e-commerce solution (Mercado Shops) rounding out its arsenal. MercadoLibre generates revenue from final value fees, advertising royalties, payment processing, insertion fees, subscription fees, and interest income from consumer and small-business lending.

MercadoLibre Headlines

No Headlines