The online auction and payment systems giant is expected to report earnings per share (EPS) of $0.68 (up from $0.63 a year ago) on a 13% sales gain to $4.38 billion in revenue. Thomson Reuters is projecting $0.70 EPS (versus $0.64 a year ago) and a 13.5% revenue jump to $4.42 billion.
UPDATE 1:55 p.m. EST: WhisperNumber.com sent us their so-called earnings whisper number for eBay. Their whisper number is $0.70 per share, two cents ahead of the analysts’ estimate and showing some confidence from investors, and its Whispers range was $0.67 to as high as $0.76. WhisperNumber said,
“eBay has a 62% positive surprise history (having topped the whisper in 37 of the 60 earnings reports for which we have data). The overall average price move is ‘as expected’ (beat the whisper number and see strength, miss and see weakness) when the company reports earnings.”
We would point out that eBay often gives longer-term guidance. The estimate for 2014 is $2.98 EPS (versus $2.71 in 2013) and a 13.7% revenue gain to $18.24 billion.
eBay announced a $5 billion stock buyback plan back in January. With Icahn getting into the company with a settlement, we will be paying close attention to how many shares (and how much was spent) on those buybacks. Even more important is whether that grows or accelerates later this year.
As far as why the stock is lower on a post-Icahn basis, it just looked like Icahn’s case was weak here and that the value proposition was a stretch. The chart is also looking problematic, with eBay shares trading around $50.65. The 50-day moving average is down at %50.50, and the 200-day moving average is way up there at $53.04.
eBay shares have traded in a 52-week range of $48.06 to $59.70. At $50.60 or so, eBay is one of the exceptions to a rising tide lifting all ships. The consensus analyst price target for eBay is up at $60.00, and its shares are valued at 14.9 times expected 2015 EPS expectations.
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