Latest news with #Mercado
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Latino vendors to showcase at expanded 2025 South Main Mercado in Rockford
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — The South Main Mercado, a celebration of Rockford's Latino community, will take place again in 2025. In 2023, the Mercado (Spanish for 'market') was held at the Ethnic Heritage Museum, 1129 S Main Street. In 2024, the event expanded to include a variety of Latino vendors, including food trucks and merchandise booths, to bring awareness of Latino-led businesses in the area. The 2025 event will be presented by Hard Rock Casino Rockford and held at 917 S. Main Street on Sunday, June 8th from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Nicor Community Initiative Stage will see performances from Spanish rock, mariachi, folk dancers, and DJ Tornado. A family fun zone will be hosted by the Rockford Park District, including games and interactive activities, including face-painting and a crafting corner. The International Soccer League of Rockford will host fast-paced 3v3 futsal games. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
TRAFFIC ALERT: downtown Moline hosting 2 events, large crowds expected
Drivers heading through downtown Moline on Friday need to plan ahead due to extra traffic from two events that are expected to draw big crowds. The Moline Police Department is issuing a traffic and parking advisory for downtown Moline on Friday, May 23, as two major events are happening simultaneously. Drivers and visitors should plan ahead and allow extra time for travel and parking. Mercado on Fifth launches its Summer Friday Series starting at 5 p.m. at 423 12th Street, with live music, food vendors and community celebrations. The Vibrant Arena at The MARK is hosting the Moline High School Class of 2025 graduation ceremony at 6 p.m. which is expected to bring hundreds of families and students to the arena. Significant traffic congestion and limited parking availability are anticipated throughout the downtown area, especially along 12th Street, River Drive and nearby intersections. Downtown_Parking_2025_05_20Download Parking at the Vibrant Arena will be restricted exclusively to those attending the high school graduation ceremony. No public parking for Mercado on Fifth will be allowed at the arena. Public parking is available in Lot N or Lot Z, in the Centre Station Parking Ramp, Heritage Place Ramp, the City Hall Parking Ramp and other surface lots. The area around 12th Street and 5th Avenue is expected to have limited public parking availability due to Mercado. Street parking is available along 5th Avenue, surrounding lots near Mercado, Lot F, Lot O or Lot V, as well as the parking ramps. Drivers and participants are urged to follow posted signs and directions from law enforcement officers in the area. Numerous police officers will be working both Mercado on 5th and the Vibrant Arena. When possible, consider carpooling, public transportation or rideshare options. Drivers are remined that pedestrian traffic will be heavy and they should exercise caution and patience when traveling near event zones Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Miami Herald
17-05-2025
- Miami Herald
No charges for Miami cop in controversial shooting of man in mental health crisis
A Miami police officer who shot a man multiple times while he was experiencing a mental health crisis won't face criminal charges and has been cleared by state prosecutors, records show. In March 2024, the family of 47-year-old Donald Armstrong called Miami police officers to their home in the hope they would help him with the crisis he was undergoing. However, when police arrived, the encounter went downhill fast and ended with Officer Kassandra Mercado shooting Armstrong six times. Armstrong was injured but survived the shooting. In a memo this week, the Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office released its final findings. Prosecutors decided Mercado's actions were legally justified because Armstrong was armed with a 'sharp homemade weapon' and refused several officers' commands to drop it even after being struck with a Taser twice. On the day of the shooting, Armstrong's mother had called police pleading for help, saying her son was suffering a mental health crisis. A standoff ensued as Armstrong stood on the porch of his mother's home in the Model City neighborhood near Liberty City, facing at least a half-dozen officers with guns drawn. A video that captured the events showed police shot him twice with a Taser to subdue him, and he fell off the porch and toward the officers. Officer Mercado then opened fire. Armstrong was originally charged with aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer, but that charge was eventually dropped, and he instead faced a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest without violence. The new charge was also dropped in October. The shooting caused community uproar as activists and residents demanded that changes be made to how police officers deal with people experiencing mental health crises. At the time, Armstrong's attorney, Larry Handfield, said police must do a 'better job.' Members of the Healing and Justice Center, a coalition of activist groups, gathered the community a few days after the shooting. They contended that Armstrong should not have been shot. 'It's really a shame that we live in a place that spends billions of dollars on more police as a solution to all of our problems,' Rachel Gilmer, the director of the HJC, said at the time.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Yahoo
40 Dogs Rescued From NYC Apartment Were Found 'Inside Closets And Cupboards'
Dozens of dogs were rescued after being found living in 'total confinement for their entire lives,' inside a New York City apartment, allegedly never setting foot outside, the Animal Care Centers (ACC) of NYC announced Friday. The ACC's rescue operation in coordination with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) found dogs ranging from young puppies to fully grown adults packed in tight spaces, according to the release. Some were discovered inside closets and cupboards with no fresh air. ACC's Tara Mercado said the dogs allegedly 'lived in total confinement for their entire lives.' 'We found full-grown Malinois hidden in cabinets and crammed behind furniture,' Mercado said. Police officials in Queens told the New York Post that the dog owner had been evicted and a criminal investigation has been opened. Neighbors told the outlet that the dogs were all living on the seventh floor of an apartment building and observed the owner frequently tossing feces off his balcony. 'It always smells like that here and I always hear them barking, barking, and he throws poop out of his balcony,' neighbor Natalia Ruales told the outlet. 'As far as I know, as we all know, he neglects his dogs. ... If he takes them out in the elevator, it smells so bad, they pee on the staircase.' The dogs were evaluated following their rescue, but medical and behavioral experts determined that they were 'extremely fearful, under socialized, and in need of long-term behavioral support.' 'They've likely never touched grass, walked on a leash, or met a stranger,' ACC's Dr. Biana Tamimi said in the release. 'Every new sound, every human interaction, is overwhelming. But we're already seeing glimmers of curiosity — and that gives us hope.' Toddler Who Wandered Miles From Home, Spent Night In Desert Saved By Very Good Dog Dogs Have Love Languages, Too. Here's What They Are And How To Figure Out Your Pet's. 13 Changes Veterinarians Would Never Ignore In Their Dogs
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Up 17% Year-To-Date: Is Mercado Libre For Growth-Focused Investors?
Shares of e-commerce and fintech company, Mercado Libre (MELI) have soared by more than 17% since the start of the year following an impressive fourth quarter earnings delivery. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Sign with MELI. Company stock rose by 7.09% in post-earnings trading, reaching an all-time high of $2,260 per share on February 20. Trading has since cooled, with share prices falling by 2.11% in the following weeks, reaching $2,065.94 per share by March. Analysts have grown increasingly optimistic about the online marketplace, as demand for online shopping in Latin America, the company's core operating region, continues to see strong momentum. Mercado management reported that the company had its strongest financial year in 2024, recording its biggest Cyber Monday, selling more than seven million products and seeing an overall 34% year-over-year increase. For growth-focused investors, MELI could bring long-term sustainable growth to portfolios as support for U.S. equities begins to wane due to economic uncertainty, and a wider tech sell-off that has pushed major indices towards correction territory. Mercado's fourth quarter bottom line delivery impressed analysts with total quarterly revenue of $6.1 billion up 37% year-over-year. Elsewhere, net income of $639 million rose 287.27%, delivering an earnings per share (EPS) of $12.60. Better-than-expected sales, with Mercado's e-commerce platform seeing over 67 million unique buyers during Q4, and crossing 100 million buyers in 12 months helped boost sales and supported the increased revenue earnings. Incoming data from the company's earnings report showed that strategic margin expansion through strong execution of cost management for their logistics network, fee collections, and sales and marketing attributed to a stronger operations margin of 13.5%, or 60 bps improvement from a year before. Income from operations totaled $850 million, which improved 23% year-over-year. In a note to shareholders, management noted that an increase in revenue and operational income was in part to the rapid expansion of credit business availability and increased use of credit cards across the company's portfolio. Fintech offerings, such as the Mercado Pago credit card are now a vital part of the company's value proposition, helping drive strong performance across most of its business segments, and helping reaffirm the company's ability to secure long-term customers in key markets. Besides credit provision, Mercado Envios, the logistics arm of the business handled over 1.8 billion items last year, with more than half a billion being shipped in Q4 2024. In total, the company increased its fulfilment orders by 44% year-over-year. Increased investment in logistical services helped the company reach record-breaking fulfillment in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. Elsewhere on their balance sheet, the company's fourth-quarter earnings show an EBITDA of $972.00 million, which is a 106.81% year-over-year change compared to $470.00 million in Q4 2023. The latest calculated EBITDA margin for the three months ended December 31, 2024 was 15.89%, and full year EBITDA margin is calculated at 15.89%. Based on the current available data, the company's full year EBITDA was $3.25 billion, with a full year EPS of $63.40 per share. Looking at the current approach the business is taking by further investing in core business activities such as logistics, and adding more popular categories, such as supermarkets, healthcare, sports, and appliances is helping them reach a wider pool of customers. In addition to this, stronger consumer spending, with more than half of customers purchasing big ticket items through an installment option is picking up year over year, and allowing the company to build a more robust cash moat. However, despite the rosy delivery, the company's cash position is less promising than expected. For the 12 months ending December 31, 2024, the company had $3.70 billion in cash, while holding $6.88 billion in debt, leaving Mercado with a net cash position of -$3.18 billion or -$62.80 per share. On the bright side, the 12 month operating cash flow of $7.92 billion, with total capital expenditures of $860 million leaves the company with a free cash flow (FCF) of $7.06 billion. FCF per share of $139.22 gives Mercado and FCF yield of 6.73%, ranking them 50.48% better than the 1,211 companies in the Retail-Cyclical industry. Analysts have positioned MELI at Modestly Undervalued with the current GF Value of $2,326.96, and a Price-to-GF-Value of 0.89. This could indicate that despite the recent bullish run, the stock has yet to reach its peak. A higher Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio of 54.80 has pushed analysts to see MELI become a long-term growth stock, with several Gurus taking a buy position on the stock in recent months. Ken Fisher (Trades, Portfolio), of Fisher Asset Management raised his position by 0.5%, and Jeffries Group took a bullish position, raising their stake by 569% on December 31, 2024. Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), of GAMCO Investors recently added MELI to his portfolio for the first time, while Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio), of Baron Funds increased his holdings by 10.95%. Further valuation data shows MELI's annualized Return on Equity (ROE) for the fourth quarter standing at 61.20%, which is ranked better than 95.41% of companies in the Retail - Cyclical Industry, and higher than the industry median average of 5.93%. The company's strong ROE was largely driven by net income delivery of $2.55 billion. Something that may stand out to investors is that the company's Price-to-Sale (P/S) ratio is lower than the industry average, and most of its peers. The calculated P/S ratio of Mercado's revenue per share for the trailing twelve months (TTM) was $409.83, giving a ratio of 5.04. However, revenue per share growth averaged 38.40% in the past 12 months, and 42.40% in the last 3 years. Similarly, the average revenue per share growth rate for the last five years was 54.10%, and 44.90% per year in the past 10 years. This could show that there remains steady improvement in the company's outlook to bolster revenue per share growth. Compared to relative market peers such as Amazon (AMZN), Singaporean digital consumer goods company, Sea Ltd. (SE) and the Chinese e-commerce company, (JD), Mercado delivers an overall better annualized return. For instance, recent data shows that MELI's year-to-date return of 21.67% is better than two out of three of its closest competitors except for JD with a YTD of 24.47%. MELI's P/E ratio of 54.80 is relatively high compared to competitors. For one AMZN posts a P/E ratio of 35.83 and JD at 11.85, according to recent valuation analysis. Sea Ltd. delivers a higher P/E ratio of 171.36, however the company's diluted EPS for the trailing twelve months for the period ending December 31, 2024 was $0.73 per share far below MELI. Perhaps this is most noticeable in the company's outlook on its e-commerce and fintech business. Management is optimistic that increased demand for e-commerce services will continue to allow them to expand product offerings outside of key regions. More than this, fintech services in Latin America have become an attractive commodity, and Mercado Libre is already in a position to handle larger customer and transaction volumes. Continuous investment in digital infrastructure would increase the company's long-term debt commitments but could be offset by its diversified portfolio. Consumer trends across much of the company's key operating regions look to provide an encouraging long-term perspective. Not only this, but improved consumer spending and wider portfolio diversification of the company's businesses could help Mercado's cash position, and likely boost earnings potential for MELI. Mercado Libre provides sustainability, something that many growth-focused investors are seeking in the current market climate. The company holds a steady balance sheet, and substantial cash flow to boost expansion of business operations in the coming years. Estimates show that MELI could be a strong contender against U.S. rivals. More than this, the progress the company and the stock have made in the last couple of years shows that there is still plenty of room for growth, and long-term opportunities that would benefit the company. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
