Ebay stock rose Wednesday after EBay reported third-quarter results that beat expectations and told investors to expect a strong holiday quarter. The shares moved higher after the company posted adjusted earnings of $1.51 per share for the September-ended quarter.
That result was up 12% from a year earlier and came in above the $1.41 per share analysts polled by FactSet had forecast. Sales also increased in the quarter, giving the earnings report more weight than a simple one-line beat. For shareholders watching the stock, the message was not just that EBay outperformed last year, but that it did so heading into its most important shopping stretch.
The San Jose, Calif.-based company has been trying to show that its turnaround can still produce momentum in a competitive e-commerce market, and Wednesday's move suggests investors were willing to reward that progress. What the market still does not have from the report is the size of the sales increase or the exact holiday-quarter guidance behind the upbeat tone, leaving the next set of details to matter just as much as the headline beat.
For now, the stock reaction says as much as the numbers: EBay has given investors a fresh reason to believe the holiday quarter could extend the improvement seen in Q3, but the scale of that improvement will have to be filled in later.
