EBay projects holiday revenue that falls short of estimates

EBay Inc. issued a bleak revenue outlook for the busy holiday quarter, suggesting the company continues to struggle as it loses shoppers to larger rivals such as Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.

Earnings per share will be $1 to $1.05 on revenue of $2.47 billion to $2.53 billion in the period ending in December, the company said in a statement Tuesday. Analysts, on average, estimated profit of $1.05 per share on sales of $2.6 billion.

EBay fell about 6% in after-market trading. The shares were down almost 2% this year through the Tuesday close, compared with the S&P 500’s 14% gain.

The San Jose, California-based company, once an industry pioneer, keeps losing US market share even as overall online spending in the US continues to grow.

EBay Chief Executive Officer Jamie Iannone is trying to sell watches and other luxury items as well as refurbished items to appeal to cost-conscious shoppers. In February, the company said it was cutting about 4% of its workforce and spending more on technology to improve online features. Earlier this month, eBay opened a collectible sneaker store on Manhattan’s Canal Street that authenticates coveted brands in an effort to lure streetwear enthusiasts worried about buying fakes online.

Third-quarter profit was $1.03 per share on sales of $2.5 billion, basically in line with analyst estimates.

Gross merchandise volume, the value of all goods sold on eBay, increased 2% to $18 billion in the quarter, topping analysts’ average estimates of $17.8 billion. The company said it had 132 million active buyers in the quarter, down 3% from a year earlier. 

Advertising revenue of $366 million narrowly missed analysts’ estimates of $368 million. EBay has been creating more advertising and payments products for its merchants to offset slow growth in overall consumer spending on the platform.