Could You Have Seen The Run In eBay Stock Coming?

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eBay (EBAY) stock returned 55.2% in the year to November 4, 2026, against 14.9% for the S&P 500. eBay’s sales growth picked up sharply over those months. On the October 28, 2026 call, management pointed to consumers selling to each other and to the categories it chose to focus on, such as collectibles, motors and fashion. So when did that growth first show up where you could have seen it?

eBay Showed The First Signs In February 2025

That first sign arrived on eBay’s February 26, 2025 call for the fourth quarter of 2024. Management said its focus category volume grew 5% in 2024, while gross merchandise volume, the value of goods sold across the whole marketplace, grew by just over 1%. During the same call, management described an overhaul of selling between consumers in the U.K., its second-largest market. Those are the same two areas management pointed to in October 2026. Yet eBay’s revenue had grown only 0.7% in the quarter ended December 2024, so the sign was easy to dismiss.

In 2025, eBay’s revenue growth picked up in each quarter, moving from 1.1% in the quarter ended March to 6.1% in the quarter ended June. On October 30, 2025, eBay filed its report for the quarter ended September with revenue up 9.5% from a year earlier. That filing arrived days before the twelve months measured here began.

eBay stock was already rising by then, gaining 21.5% in the six months before November 3, 2025. So the signs could be read in public. Anyone who waited for the September quarter’s filing bought late in that rise, but still before the run measured here began.

eBay’s Revenue Growth More Than Tripled In A Year

eBay’s revenue grew 15.7% in the four quarters to September 2026, against 4.4% in the four quarters before. Over the run, eBay stock beat three of its peers: Walmart returned 27.4%, Amazon 6.7% and MercadoLibre fell 24.5%.

During the October 28, 2026 call, management said its focus categories, consumer-to-consumer selling and recommerce, the resale of used goods, together grew merchandise volume by about 20% in the third quarter. Those businesses now make up 72% of eBay’s merchandise volume, excluding Depop, the consumer-to-consumer fashion marketplace eBay finished buying on July 30, 2026. Management singled out two of those three areas in February 2025.

Are eBay’s Focus Categories Still Growing Faster Today?

Yes. Management said focus category volume grew 24% in the third quarter of 2026, outpacing the rest of the marketplace by 19 percentage points. Collectibles, motors, fashion and refurbished goods all added to growth.

Total revenue growth has eased, though, from 19.5% in the quarter ended March 2026 to 13.7% in the quarter ended September. For the fourth quarter, management expects revenue growth of 7% to 9% excluding currency moves, against 13% on that basis in the third quarter. After an unusually strong 2026, management also expects growth in its trading cards business to slow in 2027. The measure to watch is focus category growth against the rest of eBay’s marketplace in the fourth-quarter report eBay is expected to release in February 2027.

Does This Mean You Should Act On EBAY?

Our purpose is to inform you with unique data so you make the right investment decisions. That said, betting on a single stock is always risky, no matter which direction you choose.

There is a smarter approach. Since its inception, the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio has returned 105%, beating the benchmark that combines the three major indices – the S&P 500, S&P Mid-cap, and Russell 2000. And it did so without taking the concentrated risk that comes with do-it-yourself stock picking. If that is how you want to invest, the HQ Portfolio is the place to start.

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