EBay Inc. warned investors that sales will continue to decline into the second half of the year, raising questions about management’s ability to revive growth at the online marketplace now that a pandemic boom has petered out. The shares declined in extended trading.
The e-commerce company said it had 134 million active buyers in the period ended Dec. 31, a drop of 9% from a year earlier and the seventh straight quarter of declines. Gross merchandise volume, the value of all goods sold on the site, dropped 12% to $18.2 billion in the holiday quarter, also the seventh consecutive period the number had dropped.
“EBay is back to where it was before the pandemic, losing customers and declining sales,” said Brian Yarbrough, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co. Investors question if managers can turn it around, he said. “Unless you’re looking for an odd item, eBay is forgotten by most consumers. You just don’t hear a lot about it the way you do the Walmarts, Targets and Amazons of the world.”
