EBay Stock Falls 10% As Guidance Disappoints

Dow Jones
27 Feb

Online marketplace company eBay reported solid fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 financial results late Wednesday, but shares were falling 10% in morning trading because its current-quarter revenue guidance fell short of expectations.

For the fourth quarter 2024, eBay reported adjusted earnings of $1.25 a share on revenue of $2.58 billion.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting adjusted earnings of $1.20 a share, and sales of $2.57 billion.

Shares of the online commerce site fell 7% after hours after reaching a 52-week high of $71.61 during the regular session.

For the first quarter of 2025, eBay expects adjusted earnings of $1.32 to $1.36 a share, above the $1.33 midpoint expected. But revenue forecast in a range of $2.52 billion to $2.56 billion was below FactSet analysts' forecasts for $2.59 billion.

Fourth-quarter revenue rose from the year-earlier quarter, and gross merchandise volume of $19.3 billion was at the high end of the company's previous guidance.

But that is expected to drop in the current quarter. eBay sees first-quarter gross merchandise volume of $18.3 billion to $18.6 billion, below forecasts for $18.8 billion.

Despite reporting double-digit year-over-year growth in gross merchandise volume in the United Kingdom, the elimination of consumer-to-consumer selling fees there is expected to reduce eBay's take rate, or how much it makes from transactions, Reuters reported.

eBay is also facing more competition from Amazon.com and from China's online marketplace Alibaba.

The company said it is collaborating with OpenAI's Operator to direct users to its eBay listings, and that shoppers are also browsing and buying items through Meta Platforms' Facebook Marketplace. It also expanded the ability of consumers to use fintech Klarna's "buy-now-pay-later" services in the U.K., Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain.

For the full-year 2024, eBay reported adjusted earnings of $4.88 per share on revenue of $10.28 billion.

The stock is up 11.6% so far this year, and up 44% over the past 12 months.

eBay on Feb. 6 announced it had closed its acquisition of Caramel, a Los Angeles-based technology company that handles the digital elements of automotive transactions, including paperwork, ownership transfer, financing, warranty, insurance, and transportation. Terms weren't disclosed.

Last month, eBay's stock soared 9.9% after it said some of its listings could be found on Facebook Marketplace, which has more than one billion monthly users, compared with eBay's 133 million active buyers. Analysts saw that deal as a net positive for eBay and eBay sellers, because Facebook is the world's largest social media commerce platform.

"While eBay listings will be shown on Facebook Marketplace, the entire process (from product inquiries to transaction and payment) will be handled by eBay," analysts led by Ygal Arounian wrote. "We expect the channel expansion into Facebook Marketplace should significantly expand the audience and reach for eBay sellers' listings."

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