Diamonds and Dogs

9/2/16

Brazil may be in the midst of its worst recession in decades, but thier citizens still love to shop online. Latin American online retail firm, MercadoLibre (MELI) is up 6% to a new 52 week high thanks to an upgrade at JP Morgan with a $200 price target. The analyst mentioned that earnings are growing at 40% fueled in part by thriving operations in Brazil. Revenue growth in the country of Brazil reached 61% year over year. Maybe the Olympics helped out.

Investors are hanging up on VeriFone Systems (PAY).  The electronic payment and solutions provider's stock is down 16% to a new 52 week low following better than expected earnings. The earnings were good, but the guidance was weak. The company now expects fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 28 cents to 29 cents on $460 million in revenue, far below analysts' predictions of earnings of 50 cents per share on revenue of $536 million. Management said they are managing through what they believe are difficult but temporary local market issues. The stock is down 50% year to date. Lets hope they are right.