eBay has been seeing sluggish revenue growth this year and this trend is likely to continue. The slow growth is expected to take a toll on earnings as well. However, the company is likely to see strong momentum from the payments and advertising businesses, which grew 24% and 130% respectively last quarter.
Instead of spending more to acquire new users, eBay has been focusing on its current user base. The company has been rolling out new features to increase the convenience of both buyers and sellers and improve engagement levels. It is worth noting how these strategies are benefiting the company and whether these increased investments have impacted earnings.
eBay also stated last month that the review for the sale of its StubHub and Classifieds businesses was ongoing with the assistance of Goldman Sachs. Updates on this topic are worth watching. eBay continues to face stiff competition from major players like Amazon (NYSE: AMZN) and Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and this remains a cause of concern.
In the second quarter of 2019, eBay beat revenue and earnings estimates. Revenues grew 2% to $2.7 billion while adjusted EPS increased 28% to $0.68.
For the full year of 2019, revenue, on an organic FX-neutral basis, is expected to grow 2-3%. GAAP EPS is expected to be $1.97-2.07 while adjusted EPS is expected to be $2.70-2.75.
Shares of eBay have gained 38% year-to-date. The stock was up 1% during afternoon hours on Monday.