eBay (EBAY, $27.90, up $1.01) is set to report earnings after the market closes today and is trading higher as we head towards the closing bell. The company is expecting earnings in the range of $0.39-$0.41 on revenue between $2.1 billion and $2.15 billion. Wall Street has them pegged at $0.41 a share on revenue of $2.17 billion.
eBay has been making headlines lately, some good, some bad. The company’s new CEO, John Donahoe, took over the company on March 31 and has implemented a few changes. The biggest change is the new fee structure that charges sellers less to list their items but more if they close the deal. That did go over too well with many of eBay’s loyal auctioneers but listings in the second quarter are actually higher than they were during the same period last year according to one analyst.
Then there’s the legal front. Earlier this week a judge ruled in eBay’s favor in a lawsuit brought on by Tiffany & Co. (TIF, $39.00, up $1.70) that accused eBay of not doing enough to stop sales of counterfeit items. A negative ruling would have hurt eBay’s ability to offer name-brand goods on its bargain shopping site. It was a huge win for eBay and the court said it’s Tiffany’s responsibility to protect its trademark which goes for other companies as well. To credit eBay though, they said they quickly removed listings that were known to be counterfeit and suspended the seller’s service.
Having said all that, there are whispers eBay could beat estimates but they would have to knock the cover off the ball to get this market excited about a business that has already matured.
Rick Rouse
Rick@OptionsMentoring.com
