Is eBay Stock Priced Right Against Its Peers?
eBay (EBAY) turns more of its sales into operating profit than Amazon, Walmart, MercadoLibre, Etsy or Target. Yet you pay less for each dollar of eBay’s profit than for Walmart’s or MercadoLibre’s. Is eBay stock discounted against those two for a real worry, or simply priced below what it delivers?
Is eBay Priced Below What It Delivers?
On simple valuation multiples, eBay appears discounted when compared directly to Walmart. The price-to-earnings ratio, or P/E, is the share price divided by a year of profit per share. It tells you how many dollars you pay for each dollar a company earns. eBay trades at 21.0 times earnings, while Walmart trades at 38.9 times.
eBay also delivers more for that lower price. Its revenue grew 14.7% over the last twelve months, against 6.2% at Walmart. Operating margin is the share of sales left as profit after running costs. eBay’s is 21%, the highest of the six companies in this group. Walmart keeps just 4.4%.
| EBAY | AMZN | WMT | MELI | ETSY | TGT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market Cap ($ Bil) | 46.7 | 2,688.7 | 858.9 | 88.9 | 7.7 | 71.5 |
| PE Ratio | 21.0 | 19.9 | 38.9 | 47.7 | 36.7 | 16.3 |
| LTM Revenue Growth | 14.7% | 15.8% | 6.2% | 46.0% | 3.7% | 2.0% |
| LTM Operating Margin | 20.5% | 12.1% | 4.4% | 8.3% | 16.0% | 5.6% |
| 12M Stock Return | 17.0% | 13.4% | 6.0% | -30.2% | 6.9% | 85.5% |
Two other peers fit a simple pattern, where the faster grower costs more. MercadoLibre grows far faster than eBay and costs more, while Target grows far slower and costs less. Etsy’s 36.7 P/E is distorted by an unprofitable quarter and not directly comparable. Amazon is an exception, because it grows a little faster than eBay at a slightly lower P/E. eBay breaks that pattern against Walmart, because it grows faster and earns more, yet costs less. So growth and margin alone do not explain why eBay costs less than Walmart. The next place to look is how eBay makes its money and where it is growing.
eBay Is Leaning On A Handful Of Categories
eBay has picked a few categories to focus on, and they are growing quickly. The value of goods sold in those focused categories grew 26% in the second quarter of 2026. For the first time, they made up more than 40% of everything sold on eBay.
eBay earns a share of everything sold on its site. That share, called the take rate, was 14% in the quarter, the same as a year earlier. Sellers also pay eBay to promote their listings, a source of advertising revenue.
Management has said some of that fast growth will be harder to repeat in the second half of 2026. Sales tied to Pokémon are one example, after triple-digit growth last year.
Will eBay’s Profit Growth Hold Up?
Profit growth is expected to slow in the third quarter, based on management’s own guidance. Adjusted earnings per share is the company’s own profit measure, divided across its shares. That measure grew 17% in the second quarter of 2026. For the third quarter, management expects growth of just 1% to 5% from a year earlier.
Management said its outlook already allows for slower Pokémon growth. For the full year 2026, it still expects adjusted earnings per share to grow 10% to 12%.
The fast sales growth is also new. A year earlier, eBay’s revenue growth over twelve months was just 2.7%. The price appears to assume the faster pace will not last.
Because its P/E is lower, eBay’s price asks less of its future than Walmart’s price does. eBay still has to show that its faster growth is more than a one-year burst. The evidence so far is mixed, because sales grew quickly through the second quarter but profit growth is guided to slow. Watch eBay’s adjusted earnings per share when it reports the third quarter of 2026. A result above the top of management’s range would suggest the profit slowdown is milder than guided.
How To Act On EBAY?
