Why eBay Earnings Aren’t Enough

When eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) released its second-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Wednesday, the company posted $0.53 in earnings per share (EPS) and $2.64 in revenue. The consensus estimates had called for $0.51 in EPS on revenue of $2.66 billion. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $0.45 and $2.33 billion in revenue.

In the second quarter, eBay grew active buyers by 4% across its platforms, for a total of 175 million global active buyers. Underlying total eBay performance, the Marketplace platforms delivered $2.1 billion of revenue and $22.6 billion of gross merchandise value (GMV).

Marketplace revenue growth was 9% on an as-reported basis and 6% on an FX-neutral basis, and GMV was up 11% on an as-reported basis and 7% on an FX-neutral basis.

Separately, StubHub drove revenue of $246 million, up 4% on an as-reported basis and 3% on an FX-neutral basis, and GMV of $1.1 billion, up 5% on both an as-reported and FX-neutral basis. Classifieds platforms delivered revenue of $259 million, up 18% on an as-reported basis and 10% on an FX-neutral basis.

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Looking ahead to the third quarter, the company expects to see EPS in the range of $0.54 to $0.56 and revenues between $2.64 billion and 2.69 billion. The consensus estimates are $0.68 in EPS and $2.98 billion in revenue for the quarter.

Devin Wenig, president and CEO of eBay, commented:

In Q2 we continued to execute our strategy, making improvements to the core eBay experience. At the same time, we pursued significant opportunities in advertising and payments. As we look ahead to the second half of 2018, we expect acceleration in our core business and continued strong growth in earnings.

Shares of eBay closed Wednesday at $37.95, with a consensus analyst price target of $47.82 and a 52-week trading range of $33.95 to $46.99. Following the announcement, the stock was down about 8% at $34.78 in early trading indications Thursday.

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