7 Analysts Split On eBay's Q2 And Outlook

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eBay's EBAY glass is a little more than half-full in the aggregate view of more than a half-dozen analysts Thursday.

Although many trimmed their targets on the basis of management's guidance Wednesday; the company's second-quarter earnings and conference call changed nobody's mind.

But minds can disagree. Four of the analysts maintained Buy ratings, with three at either Hold, Neutral or Equal-Weight.

"The thesis remains the same," Citi's Mark May said. "The valuation represents a reasonable risk/reward but with not many catalysts" for the shares.

May maintained a Buy, but cut his price target to $66 while trimming earnings estimates.

Mixed results in the quarter should be tempered by the company's stock buybacks, strong performance of its Payments segment and a relatively low valuation, in the view of Canaccord Genuity's Michael Graham.

Graham maintained a Buy, but price objective went to $57 from $60.

Paul Vogel of Barclays maintained an Equal-Weight rating and $57 target. The recent period continues to see strong performance from PayPal and "marketplaces struggling to reignite growth," Vogel said.

Similarly, Deutsche Bank's Ross Sandler said "the story at eBay is unchanged" with both PayPal growth and its marketplaces segment struggling. Sandler sees risk of a disappointment in the fourth quarter and maintained a Hold rating on eBay with a $55 target.

The failure to reignite marketplace segment growth "will increase pressure to unlock value either through the sale of Pay Pal or the entire company," Cantor Fitzgerald's Youssef Squali said. In either case, eBay's share price stands likely to gain, he added.

Squali maintained a Buy and $63 target.

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The impacts of a massive data breach suffered by eBay earlier this year, plus big trouble from Google's Panda search system "are at the end of the day, transitory" Credit Suisse's Stephen Ju said. "They shouldn't impair the longer-term bulls' investment thesis."

Ju maintained a Neutral rating and a $62 target.

Raymond James' Aaron Kessler, on the other hand, maintained a Buy rating and $62 target citing eBay's market leadership and "attractive valuation."

eBay traded recently at $51.07, up 0.73 percent.

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Posted In: Analyst ColorReiterationAnalyst RatingsAaron KesslerBarclaysCanaccord GenuityCantor FitzgeraldCitiCredit SuisseDeutsche BankMark MayMichael GrahamPaul VogelRaymond JamesRoss SandlerStephen JuYoussef Squali
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