The San Jose, CA-based global e-commerce company, has been operating since 1995 and provides a platform for online marketplaces. Besides offering the world’s largest online marketplace, the company has some localized off-platform businesses in Japan, South Korea, and Turkey and even provides a suite of eBay mobile apps. The company uses various technologies and designs its services to give buyers more choices to buyers while providing access to a vast inventory. Companies across the globe use the platform to offer their inventory to customers and connect with sellers at any place and any time. During the last week of February, eBay stock started sliding when eBay announced its first-quarter earnings and gave revenue guidance. The company’s declaration that fell short of the experts’ expectations caused the downslide in share prices, although the company’s Q4 earnings exceeded expectations.
eBay stock – happenings in February
On February 23, eBay’s stock price fell by 11% in extended trading soon after posting its earnings in the fourth quarter and giving guidance for the first quarter that belied Wall Street’s expectations. The company reported Earnings per Share (EPS) of $1.05 per share ex-items against the expected 99 cents, and the revenue of $2.62 billion matched the expectations of Wall Street.
However, the guidance provided by the company regarding the Q1 revenue was lower than what the experts hoped. The predicted Q1 revenue would be between $ 2.43 billion and $2.48 billion, which shows a decline of 7% to 5% year-on-year, which is why analysts expected that the revenue would be $2.61 billion.
The disappointment arising from the guidance overshadowed the company’s excellent performance in Q4. However, annual active buyers came down to 147 million, a decline of 9%, whereas the experts expected it would be 156 million. Annual active sellers were 17 million, which meant a decrease of 8%.
View of the brokerages
On March 8, eBay’s stock price was $53.31 at the close, and several brokerages commented. On February 24, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective of eBay shares from $85 to $73 while declaring the shares as overweight.
The turnaround
Despite skepticism expressed by the analysts and experts, there has been a dramatic improvement to the scenario described above. According to eBay stock news, the stock traded higher on March 4, Friday. It outperformed most other tech stocks as there is intense speculation about the company likely announcing some new initiatives soon. There is high speculation that the eCommerce company could soon accept cryptocurrencies as a payment form. The company wants more involvement of the millennials and Gen-Z in the market, hence the move to give more advanced and flexible payment options.
The move could have a far-reaching impact on eBay stock in the long run. Therefore, the investors of eBay are looking forward to having optimist results in the future.
