EBay Boosts Outlook on Pandemic; Investors Ask If It Will Last

(Bloomberg) -- EBay Inc. raised its profit and sales forecasts for the year, but the new outlook disappointed investors who hoped the digital marketplace would take greater advantage of the surge in consumer spending during the pandemic. Shares declined as much as 6% in extended trading.

The market reaction suggested investors are worried the spending bump on EBay could be fleeting as economies reopen and people return to work. A drop in federal stimulus money, which could trigger a pullback in consumer spending, is another concern, analysts said. Spending among EBay’s U.S. customers grew 35% in the second quarter, while international spending increased 22%.

EBay executives said sales increases had moderated in countries such as Italy and Germany where pandemic restrictions are less severe, prompting concerns the company would quickly return to the sluggish revenue growth that has lingered the past several years, said Tom Forte, an analyst at DA Davidson & Co.

The pandemic has boosted online shopping platforms such as EBay and Amazon.com Inc. even though double-digit unemployment has hurt the overall economy. In the second quarter, EBay reported gross merchandise volume, the value of all goods sold on its platforms, increased 26% to $27.1 billion from a year earlier. The company said it added 8 million new active buyers to end the quarter with 182 million. Analysts, however, projected almost 184 million.

Chief Executive Officer Jamie Iannone said the company stepped up marketing, which helped it attract tens of thousands of new small businesses looking for ways to reach shoppers when their locations shut down. That helped EBay meet demand for items like masks and hand sanitizer initially and later products including laptops, office furniture and fitness equipment as more people worked from home and gyms closed.

“Investors have a lot of EBay scar tissue,” Forte said. “Let’s give the new CEO a chance to show he can run with a tailwind and sustain growth.”

About 80% of the increased gross merchandise volume was generated by existing customers shopping more frequently and spending more on the site, EBay said. The remaining 20% came from new shoppers.

Annual earnings will be $3.47 to $3.59 a share, the San Jose, California-based company said Tuesday in a statement. Analysts, on average, projected $3.50, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Revenue will be as much as $10.75 billion in 2020, the company said. At the end of April, EBay projected annual sales of as much as $9.76 billion. Analysts estimated $10.4 billion.

Chief Executive Officer Jamie Iannone said the company stepped up marketing, which helped it attract tens of thousands of new small businesses looking for ways to reach shoppers when their locations shut down. That helped EBay meet demand for items like masks and hand sanitizer initially and later products including laptops, office furniture and fitness equipment as more people worked from home and gyms closed.

EBay has trailed Amazon in recent years and was pressured by activist investors Elliott Management Corp. and Starboard Value to slim down and focus on its core marketplace. The company in February completed the sale of its event-tickets marketplace StubHub to Viagogo for $4.05 billion. Earlier this month, EBay sold the classifieds business to Norway’s Adevinta ASA in a cash and stock deal worth $9.2 billion that leaves EBay with a 44.4% stake in the company.

Iannone, who took the helm in April following the ouster last year of predecessor Devin Wenig, must show that a refocused EBay can compete with Amazon, which has benefited from a Covid-fueled surge in sales and is scheduled to report earnings Thursday. Meanwhile, Walmart Inc., which has invested heavily in online shopping options, will surpass EBay as America’s No. 2 online marketplace this year, according to EMarketer Inc.

Iannone also inherited a scandal that prompted the firing of six executives indicted for allegedly cyberstalking a couple who published unflattering stories about the company during Wenig’s tenure.

In the second quarter, EBay reported sales gained 18% to $2.87 billion. Analysts, on average, projected $2.8 billion. Earnings, excluding some costs, were $1.08 a share in the quarter, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $1.06.

Shares dropped to a low of $52.48 in extended trading after closing at $56.35 in New York. The stock has gained 56% this year.

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