Does Amazon or MercadoLibre Offer The Superior Growth Vs Profitability Story Into 2027?

The article compares Amazon and MercadoLibre as growth-versus-profitability investments into 2027. Amazon is presented as the cleaner story: Q1 2026 revenue rose 16.6% to $181.52 billion, while operating income grew 29.6% thanks to operating leverage. AWS revenue increased 28% YoY to $37.59 billion with a 37.7% margin, ad revenue crossed $70 billion in trailing sales, and Amazon plans roughly $200 billion in 2026 capex to support AI infrastructure. MercadoLibre, by contrast, prioritizes market share in Latin America: revenue grew 49% to $8.845 billion, but operating income fell 19.92% as margins compressed to 6.9%. The main risk for MELI is credit quality, with provisions for doubtful accounts jumping to $1.244 billion in Brazil. The author leans toward Amazon because it combines scale, pricing power, and margin expansion, while MELI offers higher growth but greater balance-sheet and credit risk.