Emily Dattilo
The recent team-up with Meta Platforms could mean growth for eBay, Citi analysts argued.
On Wednesday, eBay announced some of its listings can now be found on Meta’s Facebook Marketplace, and the stock soared 9.9% on the news.
“While eBay listings will be shown on Facebook Marketplace, the entire process (from product inquiries to transaction and payment) will be handled by eBay,” analysts led by Ygal Arounian wrote in a Wednesday note. “We expect the channel expansion into Facebook Marketplace should significantly expand the audience and reach for eBay sellers’ listings.” They rate eBay stock at Buy with a price target of $75.
It’s difficult to pinpoint a gross-merchandise-value estimate for Facebook Marketplace since the majority of its transactions are done off the platform, the analysts noted. But the platform has over 1 billion monthly visitors, while eBay had only 133 million active buyers as of the third quarter, they added. They view the deal as a net positive for eBay and eBay sellers, because Facebook is the largest social-commerce platform globally.
Write to Emily Dattilo at emily.dattilo@dowjones.com