Majestic Research

Barron’s Online

Ebay: Analysts Sees Q3 Listings Ahead of Expectations

By Eric Savitz
Published: September 11, 2007

A pair of research notes on online auction giant eBay (EBAY) today address a similar theme: the company appears to be ahead of expectations on third quarter listings.

J.P. Morgan’s Imran Khan says total quarter to date listings are down 3.4% year over year, which is ahead of his forecast for a 6% decline. He also notes that since August 22, worldwide listings are up 6.1%. As Khan notes, on August 22, 2006, the company cut listings prices in an effort to shift the balance of listings more in favor of its core offering and away from listings in eBay stores.

Sounding a similar theme today is Majestic Research analyst John Aiken. In a report this morning, Majestic finds that new listings are down 4.7% year-over-year for the third quarter to date, “toward the higher end” of the current Street range. Majestic expects total new listings for the quarter to be down 3.8%; they note that the consensus is for a 9% decline.

Aiken notes that in the August 22-September 10 period, core listings grew 3.3%, after declining 3.9% July 1-August 21; he notes the same factor that Khan did—the anniversary of last year’s pricing change.

This morning, eBay shares are up $1.29, or 3.7%, at $36.28.