eBay's Changing Identity...Worries Over Slowdown In Core Auction Growth Rate

[mandy]

Best known for online auctions, the PayPal parent is building a diversified portfolio of Internet businesses. So why aren't investors happier?...

What's troubling investors is a slowdown in the company's "core" auction business, even as other businesses post gains. (It also didn't help that IAC/InterActiveCorp's (IACI) Ticketmaster filed suit the same day over tickets sold through eBay's StubHub business.) EBay's auction business accounts for 69% of its revenue. That business grew 23% on sales of $1.25 billion, but investors have been used to growth rates of 40%. Active auction users grew 10%—a significant drop considering the category grew 25% during the first quarter of 2006 compared to the prior year. "Our concern is the core eBay business has been in a pretty steady downward spiral for several years now and it doesn't seem to be reversing itself," says Derek Brown, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald. Brown is recommending investors shed the stock...

full article: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/c...op+stories