Stock Analysts and Scott Wingo Chant: We See Life! Go Core Go!

[mandy]

Stock Analysts and Channel Advisor's Scott Wingo think they see life in eBay's core.  :blinkie:

NOTE:  It should be noted that one of the analysts who issued bullish comments on eBay, Mary Meeker of Morgan Stanley once had a class action lawsuit filed against her that alleged  "Meeker with issuing false and misleading statements and failing to disclose material information concerning Meeker's true relationship with eBay"

NOTE 2: The other brokerage recommending eBay stock, Goldman Sachs, was also involved in a lawsuit involving IPO spinning and eBay's top executives.  Also sued in that lawsuit were Meg Whitman, Pierre Omidyar, and Jeff Skoll.  Whitman, Omidyar, and Skoll agreed to pay $3 million to settle the suit, while Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $395,000

Now for the articles

So perhaps it was indeed the changed fundamentals (and not all the rumors) that caused the recent positive sentiment as eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) shares today broke the $30 mark, gaining 56 cents or 1.87% to close at $30.46.

Compared to the negative sentiment I posted about at the end of July, this is some change. First, we had a Goldman analyst that came out with a bullish note last week. Then, yesterday, it was a Morgan Stanley analyst. Today, we had Jefferies & Co. analyst Youssef Squali joining the rest of the analysts who note a higher than expected listing growth in the quarter. This should translate to a positive quarter, or even, as Squali said, "surprise on the upside."...

full article: http://goog.bloggingstocks.com/2006/10/0...-above-30/

Channel Advisor's Scott Wingo:

eBay accelerating - was Bill Cobb right?!

Holy Core Listings Batman!

It's October 5th and we're 14 days into the 'real' new eBay fee structure announced last quarter.  In the last two weeks - particularly the last week we've seen some signs of life from good ole' eBay core.  GMV is definitely ramping.  We're still digging into specifics as our data gets  distorted by customer growth, but a back of the napkin indicates that yes, "same store" GMV is trending up and it appears that the underlying sellers are posting more, which means:

a. They just feel like it
b. Conversions are up so they are posting more as there's more demand...

full article: http://ebaystrategies.blogs.com/ebay_str...erati.html

[Anita]

This would be a good time for "Spin Does Not Equal Truth" to pipe in.

[mandy]

[quote author=Anita link=topic=5360.msg26763#msg26763 date=1160130041]
This would be a good time for "Spin Does Not Equal Truth" to pipe in.
[/quote]

One of the contributors to our old web site T&B wrote this December 28, 2000 about Meeker and eBay:

One of the predictions offered by Mark Gilbert, a
Bloomberg columnist, is that there will be a "backlash
against analysts." People will want to know why Henry
Blodget, for example, maintained a "buy" on Amazon.com as
the stock fell 85%...and then switched it to a "near term
accumulate." They'll also be curious as to why Mary Meeker
gives eBay an "outperform" rating, when the stock is clearly
in a dead heat with AMZN and others for the title of one of
the most dreadful disasters of the year. Is it because they
really believe their own hype? Or because their corporate
finance departments would nail their hides to the wall if
they told the truth?

Also from T&B, August 9 2001:

Mary Meeker, Queen of the Internet, may have also
been conflicted. Meeker has been named in a suit by
several investors who lost money on Amazon and eBay.
They accuse Meeker of making positive recommendations
based on "her desire to attract and retain investment
banking clients for Morgan Stanley."

Maybe Meeker has changed in the past 6 years. 

[mandy]

Cantor Fitzgerald doesn't like eBay

The reason for today's sell-off...most likely it was caused by Cantor Fitzgerald initiating coverage on eBay with a Sell recommendation (then why bother, I say). As an aside, I must say that unlike many commentators here of late, I don't believe analysts' recommendations are governed by ulterior motives and politics.  I'm of the firm belief that most analysts cover their companies impartially and try to do the best they can.

Regaining my composure 

Okay, so back to Cantor Fitzgerald. The analyst, Derek Brown, said that he finds that core eBay has weakened significantly in the past years, with customers -- buyers and sellers -- moving to other ecommerce solutions as their behavior has changed...

I haven't read Brown's report, so I'm not sure why he came to the conclusion he did. It would therefore be hard for me to disagree and yet, I do. Duh! Get a Clue! The company has more inactive users than active!

full article: http://www.goog.bloggingstocks.com/2006/...by-a-sell/

[xppman]

Money doesn't corrupt. It corrupts absolutely.
No doubt some of the analysts types get a kick of cash
for favorable reports and have shares / investments in Aunt Suzy's or Uncle Alfred's portfolios.  :