Mercadolibre (MELI) up 15% on Termination of CEO Stock Sale

What a day - rarely do you get four 15%+ movers. Mercadolibre (MELI) which has been hit with the ugly stick (I've stuck with it), is rallying from a very oversold level on news the CEO won't be selling a 1.8 million load of stock. Analysts are happy. Myself, I am sort of getting tired of this stock since either they are doing a proposed share dilution and that kills the stock or their management gets greedy (like all good public companies) and showers the public with shares so they can buy their 18th house.... err, I mean fund a good college education for their children. We've taken a bath here (actually a bath in every room in one of MELI's CEO's mansions) but it still is a very uniquely positioned company. I wish management would play along - unfortunately there is no peer we can switch to with a more shareholder friendly management. If these people would be a little less greedy "today", we could all win "in the long run". At this point I'll just be looking to lighten the position as it heads (hopefully) back to upper $30s. This is a potential crown jewel being mishandled. I was hoping Ebay (EBAY) would of bought it by now and taken me out in the $70s.

I will say it is nice to see analysts defend a stock after a 50% haircut, unlike a certain mismanaged solar company that falls in half and analysts stand to the side laughing. Goldman is even so kind to downgrade it after a 50% drop! Thanks! I won't name it, but it rhymes with Leena Troller. Not that I'm bitter. As you can see people, management is a big issue with publicly traded companies. Those with the best ones get valuations that are in excess of their peers.

• MercadoLibre (MELI) shares are on the mend today after CEO Marco Gaperin disclosed in an 8-K filing with the SEC late yesterday that he has terminated a stock selling plan under rule 10b5-1 which had been installed on May 20. Under the plan, Gaperin was to sell up to 1,768,794 of his MELI shares.
• Stifel Nicolaus analyst Scott Devitt notes that since he had filed the plan, MELI’s share price has been cut in half, from $54 to $27. He contends the sell-off is overdone, and that the termination of the CEO’s stock selling plan could provide a catalyst for the stock. He notes that Galperin has owned a position in the stock since it was founded in 1999; he owns a 12% stake worth $197 million as of yesterday’s close.
• Imran Khan, an analyst with J.P. Morgan, asserted this morning that the recent sell-off “has created a buying opportunity” in MELI shares. He says Q2 numbers should be strong; he expects revenue of $32.3 million and EPS of 8 cents. Khan says checks find 20% sequential listings growth.
• Tim Boyd, an analyst with American Technology Research, likewise contends the selling in MELI has gotten out of hand. “I don’t think the stock is down for any reason other than it’s a high-multiple growth stock with no real catalyst between now and the Q2 report and investor psychology is horrible,” Boyd wrote to Tech Trader Daily in response to a query on the recent slide in the stock. “I have very high conviction in a strong Q2 report and [management’s] body language has been unequivocally positive over the last two months. It’s a scary stock right now, but a must-own down here. I think earnings gets us back above $40 easily. News of CEO canceling his 10b5-1 plan (which I have never seen before) triggers short squeeze today.”

[May 14: Mercadolibre Reports]
[Mar 31: Mercadolibre with 3PM Spike/Forbes Article]

Long Mercadolibre in fund; no personal position