Ebay shares slide amid investor concern over April sales data

Ebay shares slide amid April sales worry

NEW YORK — Shares of eBay Inc. fell amid a broader market downturn Tuesday as investors worried that the online retailer’s April sales were not great.

Citing data from ChannelAdvisor Corp., a provider of software and services to online retailers, Janney Capital Markets analyst Shawn Milne said April data shows things were “choppy” for eBay. For retailers selling on eBay that ChannelAdvisor tracks, sales at stores open at least a year were flat in April compared with a year earlier. They rose 3 percent in March, the analyst said.

A ChannelAdvisor representative confirmed the numbers and said Amazon.com Inc. retailers it tracks saw a 72 percent increase in April sales at stores open at least a year. Amazon’s shares, however, also declined Thursday.

Nonetheless, Milne said in a note to investors said he thinks eBay’s “softness is fully contemplated” in the company’s second-quarter guidance, provided last month. EBay said April 22 that it expects to report an adjusted profit of 37 cents to 39 cents per share on revenue of $2.15 billion to $2.2 billion for the quarter ending in June.

Analysts on average predict earnings of 39 cents per share on revenue of $2.19 billion, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.

EBay recently changed its fee structure and its search and feedback system, and Milne said the changes are causing short-term disruptions. He kept a “Buy” rating on eBay stock and said he spoke with a few larger eBay sellers who indicated that sales were on track early in the second quarter.

Colin Sebastian, an analyst with Lazard Capital Markets, also kept a “Buy” rating on eBay stock and called its drop Tuesday an “overreaction” to ChannelAdvisor’s data.

“There have been transitional issues with marketplace changes and it’s not unexpected there would be some disruption,” he said.

Shares of eBay fell $1.23, or 5.1 percent, to $22.68 in midday trading. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $15.77 and $28.37.

Shares of Amazon fell $7.06, or 5.1 percent, to $130.43. They have traded between $73.10 and $151.09 in the past 52 weeks.