Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY)

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 46,520 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 322% compared to the average volume of 11,011 put options.

Key eBay News

Here are the key news stories impacting eBay this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on EPS and revenue: non‑GAAP EPS of $1.41 topped estimates and revenue (~$2.96–2.97B) exceeded consensus, with revenue up ~15% year‑over‑year — evidence of continued top‑line momentum. eBay shares jump as Q4 earnings beat, Depop acquisition announced
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish guidance: eBay raised Q1 FY2026 EPS guidance to $1.530–$1.590 (above Street) and guided revenue ~$3.0–3.1B vs. consensus ~$2.9B — suggests management expects demand to remain solid into the quarter. eBay forecasts first-quarter revenue above estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic acquisition — Depop for $1.2B: eBay will buy Etsy’s Depop to strengthen its fashion/C2C offering and reach Gen Z/millennial buyers, accelerating its strategy to broaden category mix. This deal was a key driver of the stock reaction. eBay to Acquire Depop from Etsy
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder returns increased: eBay raised the quarterly dividend to $0.31 and authorized an incremental $2.0B in buybacks; the company returned $756M in Q4 — supportive for EPS and investor confidence. eBay Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and materials: company provided slides and a call; analysts’ views and price targets remain mixed (median target historically near ~$99), so near‑term sentiment can swing. MarketBeat earnings summary and call materials
• Negative Sentiment: GAAP profitability and cash metrics showed some weakness: certain reports note GAAP net income and GAAP EPS declined year‑over‑year and cash & cash equivalents fell — items investors review when assessing the quality of the beat. eBay Inc. (EBAY) Stock Falls on Q4 2025 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Elevated hedging and insider activity: unusually large put-option volume and continued insider selling were reported — signals of higher near‑term volatility and some insider profit‑taking.

Insider Buying and Selling at eBay

In other news, SVP Cornelius Boone sold 4,462 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.94, for a total value of $374,540.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 91,921 shares in the company, valued at $7,715,848.74. This trade represents a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jordan Douglas Bradle Sweetnam sold 33,441 shares of eBay stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.99, for a total value of $3,076,237.59. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $435,388.67. The trade was a 87.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 43,584 shares of company stock worth $3,918,282 in the last quarter. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On eBay

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of EBAY. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. purchased a new position in eBay in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $235,149,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of eBay by 4,452,655.3% in the fourth quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 2,092,795 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $182,282,000 after acquiring an additional 2,092,748 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of eBay by 1,007.4% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,189,868 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock worth $163,058,000 after acquiring an additional 1,992,116 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of eBay by 27.8% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 8,309,698 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $755,767,000 after purchasing an additional 1,808,976 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC raised its stake in shares of eBay by 88.8% during the 2nd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 2,785,699 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $206,142,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310,373 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.48% of the company’s stock.

eBay Trading Up 2.8%

NASDAQ:EBAY opened at $82.18 on Thursday. eBay has a 12 month low of $58.71 and a 12 month high of $101.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $88.24 and its 200 day moving average is $89.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.15 billion, a PE ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.38.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The e-commerce company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. eBay had a return on equity of 41.94% and a net margin of 20.37%.eBay’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. eBay has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.530-1.590 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that eBay will post 3.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of eBay from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of eBay in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of eBay in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of eBay from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on eBay from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, eBay currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.42.

eBay Company Profile

eBay Inc is a global e-commerce company that operates an online marketplace connecting individual consumers and businesses for the sale and purchase of new, used and collectible goods. Founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar and headquartered in San Jose, California, eBay grew from its early auction-style site into a diversified platform offering both auction-format listings and fixed-price “Buy It Now” transactions. The company completed an initial public offering in the late 1990s and has since evolved its platform and services to support a broad range of product categories and buyer preferences.

The company’s core business centers on its marketplace platform, which provides listing, search and transaction capabilities for millions of items across consumer goods, electronics, fashion, collectibles and more.