What eBay (EBAY) Said on Its Q3 Earnings Call

Key Points

• eBay exceeded third-quarter guidance, with organic FX-neutral GMV up 13% to more than $23 billion, revenue rising 11% to $3.2 billion, and non-GAAP EPS increasing nearly 12% to $1.51.
• Growth was broad-based, led by collectibles, Motors, fashion and refurbished goods, while Depop more than doubled U.S. GMV, eBay Live reached a multibillion-dollar annualized run rate, and advertising revenue grew 16%.
• For the fourth quarter, eBay expects GMV growth of 12% to 14% and EPS of $1.48 to $1.53; it also plans to reduce its workforce by about 9% to streamline operations and fund higher-growth initiatives.

eBay NASDAQ: EBAY reported third-quarter results that exceeded the high end of its guidance ranges, supported by broad-based growth across its focus categories, consumer-to-consumer selling, Recommerce initiatives and newer businesses including eBay Live and Depop.

Gross merchandise volume rose 13% year over year on an organic foreign-exchange-neutral basis to more than $23 billion, while revenue increased 11% to $3.2 billion, Chief Executive Officer Jamie Iannone said. Non-GAAP operating income grew 11% to $843 million, and non-GAAP earnings per share increased nearly 12% to $1.51.

“Our outperformance was once again broad-based across categories, geographies, and customer segments,” Iannone said. Strategic priorities including focus categories, C2C and Recommerce grew GMV by about 20% in aggregate and represented 72% of total GMV excluding Depop, he said.

Collectibles, Motors and Fashion Drive Growth

Focus-category GMV increased 24% during the quarter, led by collectibles, eBay Motors, fashion and refurbished goods. Collectibles remained the company’s largest growth contributor, with trading cards benefiting from Pokémon’s 30th-anniversary releases, sports events and the fall sports calendar.

eBay said its AI-powered card-scanning tool surpassed 130 million scans. The company expanded the tool to the United Kingdom and added proprietary transaction data from TCGplayer and Goldin to its pricing guide. It also broadened its Authenticity Guarantee program to lower-priced trading cards in the U.S. and U.K. and launched authentication for collectible coins in the U.S. through a partnership with Professional Coin Grading Service.

Authenticity Guarantee surpassed 20 million cumulative items inspected across categories in July, according to Iannone. TCGplayer exceeded $1 billion in trailing-12-month GMV, while Goldin posted another record GMV quarter. A rare copy of the Declaration of Independence sold for more than $3.6 million through a Goldin auction during the quarter.

Within eBay Motors, the company launched free and simplified returns for parts and accessories in Germany and added certified recycled badging in the U.S. For vehicle sales, eBay introduced Secure Purchase Express for certain consumer-to-consumer sellers and expanded Vehicle Purchase Protection coverage to $500,000. The company said it facilitated several vehicle transactions above $1 million during the quarter, including a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT that sold for $5 million.

Luxury fashion posted healthy double-digit GMV growth. eBay expanded Authenticity Guarantee for luxury fashion to buyers in 23 European Union countries and introduced authentication for watches in Australia.

Depop Accelerates, eBay Live Reaches Multibillion-Dollar Run Rate

Depop completed its first quarter as part of eBay and outperformed the company’s expectations, management said. U.S. GMV, monthly active users and sold items at Depop more than doubled from a year earlier on a pro forma basis.

Depop’s trailing-12-month active buyers reached 11 million, up from 9 million, while active sellers reached 5 million, Iannone said during the question-and-answer session. The company said newer customer cohorts are buying and selling more than earlier cohorts, while repurchase, relist and resell rates improved.

eBay is using its carrier relationships to lower shipping costs at Depop and is testing inventory integrations between the platforms. During the quarter, eBay began testing Depop fashion listings adjacent to selected eBay search results and is now assessing responses to individual Depop listings appearing directly in eBay search.

eBay Live delivered another record quarter and reached a multibillion-dollar annualized GMV run rate, with GMV growth “well into the triple digits,” Iannone said. The company broadened self-service onboarding, enabled more sellers to join the platform and introduced multistreaming through Live Studio, allowing sellers to broadcast simultaneously to YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitch.

Iannone said Live sellers generated roughly twice as much GMV on the core marketplace as they did through live events over the trailing 12 months. Buyers who use Live spend 70% more than comparable buyers, he said.

Advertising, AI and Shipping Investments

Advertising revenue increased 16% year over year to $607 million, including $575 million in first-party advertising revenue. Promoted Listings were used across nearly 1.3 billion of eBay’s nearly 2.7 billion listings excluding Depop, while 6 million sellers adopted at least one Promoted Listing product.

The company introduced an AI-powered ad-placement engine, expanded video advertising formats and rolled out more personalized advertising prompts for C2C sellers. AI also remains central to eBay’s seller tools, including Magical Listing, which is now available to new and reactivated sellers across six major markets.

In Australia, active sellers using Magical Listing created more than one-third more listings per attempt, while average listing time was reduced by about one-third, Iannone said. The company has also expanded managed shipping and international shipping programs, including eBay International Shipping in the U.K. and Germany.

Chief Financial Officer Peggy Alford said eBay’s total FX-neutral GMV grew nearly 16% to $23.2 billion, including nearly three percentage points of contribution from Depop. U.S. organic GMV rose 22%, while international organic GMV increased nearly 4% amid what management described as a challenging macroeconomic backdrop.

Trailing-12-month active buyers grew 4% to 147 million on a pro forma basis including Depop and Tise. Excluding those businesses, active buyers increased more than 1%. U.S. active buyers rose 6% organically, while the company’s 16 million enthusiast buyers accounted for more than 70% of marketplace GMV and spent approximately $3,700 annually on a trailing-12-month basis.

Fourth-Quarter Outlook and Workforce Reduction

For the fourth quarter, eBay projected consolidated GMV of $23.7 billion to $24.1 billion, representing total FX-neutral growth of 12% to 14%, or organic growth of about 8% to 10%. Depop is expected to contribute four percentage points to total GMV growth.

• Revenue is forecast at $3.19 billion to $3.24 billion, or total FX-neutral growth of 7% to 9%.
• Non-GAAP operating income growth is expected to range from 6% to 10%.
• Non-GAAP operating margin is projected at 25.7% to 26.2%.
• Non-GAAP earnings per share is expected between $1.48 and $1.53.

Alford said GMV is expected to outpace revenue growth because Depop operates at a lower take rate, the U.K. managed-shipping revenue-model transition affects comparisons, and category and average-selling-price mix continue to pressure take rates.

The company returned nearly $830 million to shareholders in the third quarter through share repurchases and dividends. It repurchased about $690 million of stock at an average price of roughly $106 per share and paid a quarterly dividend of $0.31 per share. eBay continues to target approximately $2 billion in stock repurchases for the full year.

Management also disclosed that eBay plans to reduce its workforce by about 9% to streamline operations and create capacity for investment in higher-growth initiatives. For 2027, the company said it is planning for healthy consolidated growth in GMV, revenue, non-GAAP operating income and non-GAAP earnings per share, while anticipating that trading-card growth will moderate from the elevated levels seen in 2026.

About eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY)

eBay Inc operates a global online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers. Through its platform, individuals, small businesses and larger retailers can list and purchase new, used and refurbished merchandise across categories such as electronics, apparel, collectibles, automotive parts and accessories, home goods and industrial products. Transactions may take place through auctions or fixed-price listings, with payments, shipping and other seller and buyer services supporting the marketplace experience.

Founded in 1995 as AuctionWeb by Pierre Omidyar, eBay has grown from an online auction site into a broad e-commerce platform.

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