Look For Gradual Improvement In eBay Over The Next Few Quarters

Deutsche Bank expects an in-line result from
eBay IncEBAY
when it reports its third-quarter results on October 19 and expects results to gradually improve over next few quarters.

The brokerage expects revenue of $2.18 billion and PF EPS of $0.43, which may prove conservative. Deutsche Bank also anticipates GMV growth (ex-FX) of 5 percent largely driven by active buyer growth of 4 percent. Geographically, the brokerage sees US GMV growth of 4 percent year-over-year and International GMV growth of 6 percent year-over-year (ex-FX).

"Our checks suggest some additional buyer growth is possible for eBay in 3Q on the back of SEO, reduced churn and FB marketing, but we see similar low-single digit GMV growth in the US ex-stub (consistent with 3rd party data)," analyst Ross Sandler wrote in a note.

Related Link: Pete Najarian Sees Unusual Options Activity In eBay

Sandler, who has a Buy rating and $40 target price on the stock, sees signs of GMV growth ticking up potentially in the fourth quarter based on accelerating mobile growth and a slightly easier comp. The analyst says the implied mid-point for fourth quarter revenue of $2.36 billion (+3-4 percent ex-fx) is likely in line.

Looking Forward

Meanwhile, the analyst noted that the key theme to focus for 2H16 and beyond is eBay's progress on the structured data initiative. At the end of second quarter, eBay has processed about 42 percent of its listings for the catalog and created about 15 million active product pages, and talked about "100 million pages by year end."

"We expect steady progress over next several quarters; reaching 70–80 percent of total pages transitioned to the new format by the end of 2017," Sandler highlighted.

The company is likely to see active buyer growth and improved conversion rates as more direct traffic sees the new product pages.

"While this is a slow process, we are watching current quarter buyer growth as a leading indicator (before GMV shows acceleration)," the analyst continued.

On the flip side, Stubhub faces tougher comp starting in the fourth quarter from the pricing display change last year. But, Sandler expects solid double digit growth rates to continue through 2017.

In addition, Sandler sees eBay's classifieds business has potential to continue generating double digit growth (ex-FX).

At last check, eBay was down 1.08 percent at $31.60.

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Posted In: Analyst ColorLong IdeasNewsPrice TargetReiterationAnalyst RatingsMoversTechTrading IdeasDeutsche BankRoss Sandler
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