Two ways to tap into e-commerce growth

Article Excerpt

In July 2015, online auction firm eBay split off its electronic-payment business, PayPal, as a separate firm. Investors received one PayPal share for each eBay share they held. Both stocks jumped during the pandemic as consumers embraced online shopping, but have moved down as stores re-opened. We feel both stocks can move higher over the next few years, particularly as younger shoppers prefer to buy goods online and pay bills electronically. EBAY INC. $42 is a buy. The company (Nasdaq symbol EBAY; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 519.0 million; Market cap: $21.8 billion; Price to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 2.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ebay.com) operates e-commerce websites, in over 190 countries, where sellers pay fees to auction items or offer them at fixed prices. Revenue in the three months ended September 30, 2023, rose 5.0%, to $2.50 billion from $2.38 billion a year earlier. Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV), the total value of merchandise sold on eBay’s platform, improved 1.6% in the quarter to…