The Top 3 Emerging Market Stocks to Buy for Long-Term Growth

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  • Investment bank Lazard expects emerging market stocks to benefit more from economic growth than the names in developed markets. Here are three emerging market stocks to buy. 
  • America Movil (AMX): AMX is poised to get a boost form strong economic growth in Mexico and has an attractive valuation.
  • Li Auto (LI): LI continues to grow very rapidly, while its bottom line is expected to soar. 
  • MercadoLibre (MELI): MELI is gaining market share and has multiple, strong growth catalysts.  
top emerging market stocks - The Top 3 Emerging Market Stocks to Buy for Long-Term Growth

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A report issued last quarter by investment bank Lazard portends well for emerging market stocks. According to the bank, “Emerging markets equities are in line to benefit from improving economic growth more than developed markets are, driven primarily by emerging Asia and information technology companies.” Now might be a good time to investigate emerging market stocks.

Although Chinese stocks have performed poorly so far this year, investors are starting to take a second look at the country in the wake of stimulative policies adopted by its central bank, Lazard reported. The firm added, “Growth prospects in Latin America, namely Brazil and Mexico, have greatly improved on the back of nearshoring trends and an increase in foreign direct investment.”

Here are three emerging market stocks well-positioned to be boosted by the strong economic growth cited by Lazard.

America Movil (AMX)

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Mexico-based telecom company America Movil (NYSE:AMX) is poised to benefit from strong economic growth in the latter country, driven by the “nearshoring trends” cited by Lazard.

Moreover, multiple Wall Street banks are upbeat on the shares. On Oct. 4, UBS upgraded the name to “buy” from “neutral,” citing better execution by the company and the shares’ low valuation. UBS has a $22 price target on the shares versus the name’s closing price on Nov. 7 of just $17.17.

Also upgrading the name last month was Bank of America, which raised the shares to “buy.” The bank believes that America Movil’s Mexican wireless businesses are performing well, and it, like UBS, thinks that the shares are undervalued. This then makes it one of those emerging market stocks to buy.

Last quarter, AMX’s EBITDA, excluding currency fluctuations, climbed 5% year-over-year, while its EBITDA margin reached an impressive 39%.

Also noteworthy is that AMX added a net total of 3 million wireless subscribers in Q3.

Li Auto (LI)

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Chinese automaker Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI), which specializes in manufacturing hybrid vehicles, continues growing rapidly.

In October, the automaker delivered over 40,400 vehicles, representing a 10% increase versus the previous month and a huge 300% surge compared with October 2022.

The shares have rebounded about 20% since their Oct. 19 low but remain well below their August high of $46.65.

One factor keeping the shares down is likely concern about the Chinese economy. But the IMF expects the country’s economy to expand at a 5.4% rate this year before growing another 4.6% in 2024. As a result, I expect Li’s deliveries to continue to surge going forward.

Also noteworthy is that analysts. on average, expect Li’s earnings per share to jump to $1.36 in 2024 versus 75 cents in 2023.

MercadoLibre (MELI)

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Latin American e-commerce company MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) delivered very strong Q3 results on Nov. 1, as its top line soared 41% versus the same period a year earlier to $3.8 billion and its gross merchandise volume soared 59% year-over-year, excluding foreign currency fluctuations, to $11.4 billion. On the bottom line, its net income more than doubled to $822 million from $322 million.

MELI is gaining market share while raising its profits tremendously. The company is also becoming a massive player in the Latin American financial sector, as almost 50 million consumers now use its fintech products. In the future, the company’s expansion in the latter industry and its pending move into insurance can help boost its growth.

The shares have a high forward price-earnings ratio of 46, but the valuation is attractive, given the company’s extremely rapid growth and strong potential. As a result, MELI is one of the top emerging market stocks to buy.

On the date of publication, Larry Ramer did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

Larry Ramer has conducted research and written articles on U.S. stocks for 15 years. He has been employed by The Fly and Israel’s largest business newspaper, Globes. Larry began writing columns for InvestorPlace in 2015. Among his highly successful, contrarian picks have been SMCI, INTC, and MGM. You can reach him on Stocktwits at @larryramer.


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