(Reuters) – EBay Inc’s quarterly revenue and forecast for the current quarter both fell short of estimates on Wednesday, signaling that reopening economies and vaccine rollouts could be putting an end to the pandemic-led shopping boom.
In the past year, customers turned to e-commerce platforms during the coronavirus pandemic as they were home-bound for months at a stretch, but vaccine rollouts are expected to lead a return to brick-and-mortar shopping as more people step out of their homes.
EBay said it expects third-quarter revenue in the range of $2.42 billion to $2.47 billion, while analysts were expecting $2.92 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Shares of the e-commerce firm fell 1% after the bell.
EBay faces competition in its marketplace business from larger rivals including Amazon.com and Walmart Inc’s online business.
Last month, Amazon’s second-quarter revenue missed analysts’ estimates and the company hinted at slower sales growth in the e-commerce sphere.
EBay’s second-quarter revenue rose about 14% to $2.68 billion, but fell short of analysts’ expectation of $3.00 billion. The company has recorded its slowest revenue growth in four quarters.
The company’s gross merchandise volume, which is the value of goods sold on its websites within a certain time frame, fell 7% to $22.1 billion in the quarter.
On an adjusted basis, the company earned 99 cents per share, above analysts’ estimate of 95 cents.
The e-commerce firm also expanded its share buyback program by an additional $3 billion.
(Reporting by Nilanjana Basu and Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
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