Baron Funds, an investment management firm, released its “Baron Global Advantage Fund” fourth quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. The fund was up 14.8% (institutional shares) in the fourth quarter compared to an 11.0% gain for the MSCI ACWI Index (the Index) and a 12.7% gain for the MSCI ACWI Growth Index, the Fund’s benchmarks. The fund appreciated 25.6% for the full year compared to 22.2% and 33.2% for the benchmarks, respectively. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2023.
Baron Global Advantage Fund featured stocks like MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) in its Q4 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay, Mercadolibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) is an online commerce platform that operates through Mercado Libre Marketplace and Mercado Pago FinTech platform. On March 4, 2024, MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) stock closed at $1,560.08 per share. One-month return of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) was -8.79%, and its shares gained 23.34% of their value over the last 52 weeks. MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) has a market capitalization of $81.887 billion.
Baron Global Advantage Fund stated the following regarding MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
“MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI), Latin America’s leading e-commerce company, contributed to performance in the fourth quarter with shares rising 23.9% and closing the year up 85.7% after reporting third quarter earnings that beat Street expectations across the board. It had 59% constant-currency year-over-year growth in GMV, 69% growth in commerce revenues, 121% growth in total payments volume, and a 720bps increase in operating margins year-over-year. The company is generating above-market GMV growth across its major Latin American markets and is increasingly outperforming its peers in e-commerce, particularly in Brazil thanks to its broad selection and differentiated logistics capabilities, which enable the company to deliver items faster than its competitors. Over the last several quarters, MercadoLibre has also benefited from product innovation in fintech and solid underwriting in the growing credit business, which we believe will drive continued margin expansion and earnings growth as e-commerce in the region continues maturing over the next decade.”
A customer using their phone to access an online commerce platform.
MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. At the end of the fourth quarter, MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) was held by 81 hedge fund portfolios, up from 76 in the previous quarter, according to our database.
We discussed MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) in another article and shared the list of best future stocks for the long term. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2023 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
