EBay stock sinks after lackluster Q4 guidance, election distraction
A sign is posted in front of eBay headquarters in San Jose, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Shares of eBay slumped about 9% in extended trading on Wednesday after the online marketplace issued guidance for the fourth quarter that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.
Here’s how the company did in the third quarter:
- Earnings: $1.19 per share vs. $1.18 per share expected by LSEG
- Revenue: $2.58 billion vs. $2.55 billion expected by LSEG
For the current quarter, eBay predicted revenue to between $2.53 billion and $2.59 billion, which would represent a 1% decline to a 1% increase year over year. The guidance trailed the average analyst estimate for fourth-quarter revenue of $2.65 billion, according to StreetAccount.
The company also said it expects $1.17 to $1.22 in adjusted earnings per share in the fourth quarter. The top end of the range is in line with consensus estimates of $1.22 per share.
EBay has faced increased competition in e-commerce from rivals like Amazon, Walmart and Etsy, as well as low-cost upstarts Temu and Shein, which both have ties to China. To keep buyers and sellers returning to its site, the company has leaned into so-called “focus categories,” such as collectible sneakers, used luxury goods and auto parts. It’d also announced artificial intelligence tools that provide personalized recommendations for shoppers and streamline the creation of seller listings.
EBay CEO Jamie Iannone said in an interview following the earnings report that the weak guidance was due to a number of “one-time factors.” He cited the prevalence of hurricanes at the beginning of the quarter and shoppers being distracted in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election in November. He also pointed to the shorter holiday shopping season, which has five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year compared with last year.
A recent survey by Deloitte found volatile weather and election distraction are expected to be top of mind among holiday shoppers this year. Amazon also cited similar factors behind its weaker-than-expected guidance in its latest earnings report. Amazon reports third-quarter results on Thursday.
Iannone said eBay has seen traction among shoppers despite the rocky macroeconomic environment, noting consumers can “buy used and refurbished and find great values, which tends to be even more beneficial in challenging times.”
“When you look at the trajectory and the momentum that we’re on, we’re exactly where we expected to be,” Iannone said. “We feel really good.”
Steve Priest, eBay’s finance chief, said the company has seen “solid execution” on its strategic initiatives, which drove continued gross merchandise volume “growth amid a dynamic macro environment.”
GMV, or the dollar value of items sold on eBay’s marketplace, grew 2% year over year to $18.3 billion, eBay said. That topped analysts’ projected $18.1 billion, per StreetAccount estimates.
The StubHub logo is seen at its headquarters in San Francisco.
Andrej Sokolow | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
Online ticket platform StubHub is pricing its IPO at $23.50, CNBC’s Leslie Picker confirmed on Tuesday.
The pricing comes at the midpoint of the expected range that the company gave last week. At $23.50, the pricing gives StubHub a valuation of $8.6 billion. StubHub will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “STUB.”
The San Francisco-based company was co-founded by Eric Baker in 2000, and was acquired by eBay for $310 million seven years later. Baker reacquired StubHub in 2020 for roughly $4 billion through his new company Viagogo, which operates a ticket marketplace in Europe.
StubHub has been trying to go public for the past several years, but delayed its public debut twice. The most recent stall came in April after President Donald Trump‘s “Liberation Day” tariffs roiled markets.
The company filed an updated prospectus in August, effectively restarting the process to go public.
The IPO market has bounced back in recent months after an extended dry spell due to high inflation and rising interest rates. Klarna made its debut on the NYSE last week after the online lender also delayed its IPO in April. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss’ Gemini, stablecoin issuer Circle, Peter Thiel-backed cryptocurrency exchange Bullish and design software company Figma have all soared in their respective debuts.
At the top of the pricing range StubHub offered last week, the company would have been valued at $9.2 billion. StubHub had sought a $16.5 billion valuation before it began the IPO process, CNBC previously reported.
StubHub said in its updated prospectus that first-quarter revenue increased 10% from a year earlier to $397.6 million. Operating income came in at $26.8 million for the period.
The company’s net loss widened to $35.9 million from $29.7 million a year ago.
In this photo illustration, the logo of TikTok is displayed on a smartphone screen on April 5, 2025 in Shanghai, China.
Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Tuesday extended the deadline for ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. business, which will be owned by an investor consortium that includes Oracle and Silver Lake, CNBC’s David Faber reported.
It’s the fourth time Trump has extended the deadline. The extension, as described in an executive order, precludes the Department of Justice from enforcing a national security law that would effectively ban TikTok in the U.S. until Dec. 16.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed on Monday that a “framework deal” had been reached involving TikTok. Under the national security law, which would have come into effect on Wednesday, app store operators like Apple and Google and internet service providers would be penalized for providing services to TikTok’s U.S. operations if a deal was not reached.
Under the framework deal, about 80% of TikTok’s U.S. business would be owned by an investor consortium that includes Oracle, Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz, the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday reported. As part of the arrangement, existing U.S. users would need to shift to a new app, according to report.
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected on Friday to discuss the terms of the TikTok-related deal that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed on Monday.
The deal, which is expected to close in the next 30 to 45 days, includes new investors, existing ByteDance investors and will result in Oracle maintaining its cloud computing agreement with TikTok, CNBC’s David Faber reported earlier on Tuesday.
Bessent said Tuesday during CNBC’s Squawk Box that Trump was willing to let TikTok “go dark,” which spurred China to agree to a deal. The Treasury Secretary said that the deal’s commercial terms had already been finalized “in essence” since March or April, but China put the deal on hold following Trump’s tough tariffs and trade policies.
“We were able to reach a series of agreements, mostly for things we will not be doing in the future that have no effect on our national security,” Bessent said Tuesday.
A senior White House official said in a statement that, “Any details of the TikTok framework are pure speculation unless they are announced by this administration.”
TikTok did not reply to a request for comment.
WATCH: Trump’s willingness to let TikTok go dark motivated China to make deal.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at Microsoft Build AI Day in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 30, 2024.
Adek Berry | AFP | Getty Images
LONDON — Microsoft said on Tuesday that it plans to invest $30 billion in the U.K. by 2028, as the company builds out its artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The investment includes an additional $15.5 billion in capital expansion and $15.1 billion in its U.K. operations, Microsoft said. The company said the investment would enable it to build the U.K.’s “largest supercomputer,” with more than 23,000 advanced graphics processing units, in partnership with Nscale, a British cloud computing firm.
The spending commitment comes as President Donald Trump embarks on a state visit to Britain. Trump arrived in the U.K. Tuesday evening and is set to be greeted at Windsor Castle on Wednesday by King Charles and Queen Camilla.
During his visit, all eyes are on U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is under pressure to bring stability to the country after the exit of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner over a house tax scandal and a major cabinet reshuffle.
On a call with reporters on Tuesday, Microsoft President Brad Smith said his stance on the U.K. has warmed over the years. He previously criticized the country over its attempt in 2023 to block the tech giant’s $69 billion acquisition of video game developer Activision-Blizzard. The deal was cleared by the U.K.s competition regulator later that year.
“I haven’t always been optimistic every single day about the business climate in the U.K.,” Smith said. However, he added, “I am very encouraged by the steps that the government has taken over the last few years.”
“Just a few years ago, this kind of investment would have been inconceivable because of the regulatory climate then and because there just wasn’t the need or demand for this kind of large AI investment,” Smith said.
Starmer and Trump are expected to sign a new deal Wednesday “to unlock investment and collaboration in AI, Quantum, and Nuclear technologies,” the government said in a statement late Tuesday.
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